The Life Quality Index (LQI) is a recently developed concept that establishes a relation between the resources invested in improving the safety of an engineering facility and potential fatalities that are avoided by the investment. In this way, the LQI provides a rationale for determining acceptability of decisions involving life safety risks in engineering, including the establishment of target reliabilities. In this contribution, the principle of the LQI is outlined and its relevance for making safety-relevant decisions in geotechnical engineering is highlighted. The methodology is illustrated by an application to the design of a slope, involving a FE-based reliability analysis.     «

The Life Quality Index (LQI) is a recently developed concept that establishes a relation between the resources invested in improving the safety of an engineering facility and potential fatalities that are avoided by the investment. In this way, the LQI provides a rationale for determining acceptability of decisions involving life safety risks in engineering, including the establishment of target reliabilities. In this contribution, the principle of the LQI is outlined and its relevance for makin...     »