Related assignment
Mapping risk, station by station.
A risk map is only worth something if it was drawn up on site. A look back at the assignment carried out for ARSAT around the service stations of N'Djamena.
When ARSAT entrusted us with mapping the risks of the service stations of N'Djamena and its surroundings, the temptation would have been to work from an office: a list of addresses, a grid of criteria, a report. We did the opposite. A multidisciplinary team — risk management, geolocation, industrial safety — visited every one of the sites.
Because the risks of one station do not resemble those of the next. Fire, explosion, soil pollution, fuel leaks, regulatory non-compliance, proximity to a sensitive area: each site has its own combination, and it depends on what surrounds it — urban density, traffic flows, neighbouring infrastructure, emergency access.
What the team did on site
Physically inspect the installations. Assess the safety arrangements in place. Record the coordinates of each station with precise positioning equipment. Note the environmental and human factors that amplify or reduce the hazard.
Out of these surveys came, for each site, an individual risk sheet with practical recommendations for reduction and for bringing the site into compliance — not a general note, a sheet per station.
What remains after the assignment
A central geospatial database, designed to serve the authorities, the operators and their partners when they have a decision to take on safety or town planning. It is the part of the assignment that keeps working once the report has been handed over.
The lesson holds beyond service stations: a risk mapped from the field can be managed; a risk estimated from a distance is simply endured.
