SAFETY - The Westerschelde Tunnel: Approaching Limits - page 42

should be present which make it possible for the people in the tunnel to bring
themselves to safety, even before the emergency services are present. In
respect of this link, the designer should pose the question as to how he can
bring about a design to optimize the 'self-rescuing ability'.
In the event that the self-rescuing by people is inadequate - a risk that can-
not be ignored - the providing of adequate emergency services is essential.
For that purpose repressive measures have to be taken and facilities must
be present. A design should therefore take into consideration that the loca-
tion of the accident or disaster must be optimally accessible for the emer-
gency services such as the fire brigade, ambulance or police and that there
are means present which the emergency staff are able to use.
The chain is complete with the 'after care' link, a link which includes every-
thing that is necessary to return to the normal situation as fast as possible.
The greatest gain lies in the first few links of the safety chain
It is important to find a good balance in the spreading of the attention across
the various links in the chain as a whole, in which not a single phase may be
neglected. However, it is essential to follow the chain 'from top to bottom' and
to intervene as high as possible: it's useless to worry about the number of fire
extinguishing pipes, if you haven't first thought about pro-active or prevent-
ive measures with which the chance of (a certain type of) fire is avoided or
substantially reduced. The taking of precautions in the first links of the chain,
provides far more safety gain than precautions at the end of the chain.
The safety chain in practice at the
Westerschelde Tunnel
The pro-active link: ruling out the chances
An important decision was taken already in the plan study phase, which can
certainly be marked as being pro-active: the decision to construct a tunnel
Fig. 4.5
The Westerschelde is
the lifeline of the
harbour at Antwerp