Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Applying Safety Science to Genetically
Modified Agriculture
Mathilde Bourrier
Introduction
Our main goal in this chapter is to determine whether decades of work
in safety science and safety management have value for resolving contro-
versies about GM agriculture. The implicit hypothesis is that there may
be some commonalities between the safety issues posed by GM agricul-
ture and other risky technologies, and potential benefits from using the
toolbox of safety science that has been developed for more than thirty
years in these other technological sectors. To avoid any misunderstand-
ing, the discussion and points raised in this chapter do not cover the total-
ity of the issues posed by genetic engineering. Our objective is to apply
the safety science toolbox to the sharp end of the industry, that is, the
crop growing practices on farmland.
Historically, safety science has dealt with high-risk technological
enterprises (nuclear power industry, chemical industry, aviation indus-
try) and more recently with medical practices (Vincent & De Mol,
2000; Amalberti, Auroy, & Berwick, 2005). Safety science has expanded
over the years. It consists of research blending several disciplines,
notably ergonomics, engineering, design, occupational health, sociol-
ogy, or environmental studies. Issues like human and organizational
failures, contributing factors to error production, implementation of
risk/hazard mitigation strategies (such as risk analysis and modeling,
event analysis, systematic incident reporting system, or safety culture and
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