Developing a Framework for Health Risk Assessment, by Integrating Infection and Spreading Aspects into RBD

Communicable diseases pose a significant threat for passenger vessels, as norovirus, influenza, food, waterborne diseases, and lately COVID-19 have caused several public health events. To manage the risks deriving from communicable diseases, this work focuses on ship design by developing a framework for health risk assessment. This framework is based on the risk-based design, an emerging design process for which safety is considered as a design criterion, by also integrating infection and spreading aspects. The framework shall allow the assessment of various design solutions, as risk control options, aiming at minimizing the spread of diseases and, thus, its consequences.