A Quest for Safety. An Analysis on the Safety Management Approach of the United States Office of Hazardous Materials Safety.

In this thesis the safety management approach of the U.S. federal hazardous materials transportation programme is analyzed extensively. The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) utilizes a set of ('hard and soft line')tools, mostly derived from the U.S. Hazardous Materials Regulation it can issue, modify and determine. The set of programmes reflect the differentiated and complex transportation system as well as the risks and related consequences of (serious) accidents. The contexts in which the OHMS operates determine to a large extent its behaviour and effectiveness, especially politics and industry. From the theoretical perspectives, the OHMS has a very rationalistic safety management approach. However, its contexts are highly complex, dynamic and limitative. There are often sub optimalities in the OHMS programmes that are inherent to the 'system'. The enterprise approach is one the recent reemphasized approaches which may lead to better data sharing and communication with external partners.