Sustainable risk management

The objective of sustainable risk management in contaminated areas is to safely and efficiently remove or manage hazardous substances that cause significant harm or risk, optimising the impacts on the environment, society and the economy (ISO 18594:2017). 

  • In the risk management of contaminated land areas, the primary objective is to:
  • ensure that hazardous substances present in the soil or groundwater of the site do not pose a significant health or environmental risk.
  • Potential adverse impacts on the environment and health caused by hazardous substances are identified, defined and described in the risk assessment.
  • On the basis of the risk assessment, the contamination of an area and the need for remediation are assessed and, if necessary, the remediation targets are determined.

In practice, the decision on a risk management solution and selection of measures is influenced by a variety of factors that cannot be examined in an environmental and health risk assessment of hazardous substances. For example, in the land use and construction plans for the area, decisions are steered by, for example, estimates of the impacts of the measures to be selected based on the value, constructability or other further use of the area. On the other hand, risk management measures, such as remediation, always have harmful impacts that must be minimised in the planning of operations. In addition, the views of different stakeholders regarding the objectives of risk management and the impacts of its various implementation options may vary widely. 

Impacts taken into account extensively

Sustainable risk management refers to the planning and implementation of risk management measures that aim to maximise the overall benefits of the activities by taking into account their impacts on the environment, people’s living conditions and comfort and the economy as extensively as possible.

The sustainability of risk management can be influenced both by the selection of risk management methods at an individual site and by means of land use planning and construction at the regional level. The earlier the planning process takes into account the principles of sustainable development, the more opportunities there are for influencing decision-making and the benefits achieved through the activities.