Risk Analysis

Over time, social awareness regarding risk tolerability has evolved, and there is currently an increased demand for downstream safety, with new human settlements and properties, and higher damage costs. These social demands are enacted by current legislation and guidelines, even though safety reviews show that many dams do not meet current standards. In a context where a number of these safety issues have been identified and economic resources are limited, OFITECO has always been on the cutting edge and helped its clients to prioritise risk-reduction measures and make sound decisions.

Past experience in Spain and other countries shows that the standards-based approach used to assess dam safety can be enhanced through an integrated process that affords explicit recognition and analysis of risks in the system, formal treatment of the uncertainties that are ever present in dam safety practice, and a defined risk evaluation process leading to the risk assessment processes. In this regard, OFITECO assists its clients in order to develop informed decision-making concerning the manner in which the risks are to be controlled.

An indirect benefit of the Risk Informed Decision Making (RIDM) process facilitated by OFITECO is the integration of many different aspects of dam safety into a single risk model, following a loads-response-consequences structure. OFITECO’s comprehensive approach offers the advantage of providing our clients with information and studies that can be adapted to several daily tasks in their dams, becoming a part of integral safety management of dam-reservoir portfolios.