TY - JOUR A1 - Pandey, Mahesh A1 - Viljoen, Celeste A1 - Way, Andrew A1 - Katharina Fischer, Katharina A1 - Sýkora, Miroslav A1 - Diamantidis, Dimitris A1 - Steenbergen, Raphaël D.J.M. A1 - Lind, Niels A1 - Frangopol, Dan M. A1 - Yang, David Y. A1 - Retief, Johan Verster A1 - André, João A1 - Nathwani, Jatin A1 - Lenner, Roman T1 - Life safety in the Reliability-Based design and assessment of structures JF - Structural Safety N2 - We review the developments in life safety and the incorporation thereof in the design and assessment of structures over the last 50 years. Various measures of life safety are presented that have been developed according to the marginal life saving cost principle based on individual, societal and economic considerations. Target probabilities of failure, or target reliabilities, are central to modern structural design and assessment. These are derived either through back-calibration to existing practice or through life cycle cost minimisation, both of which yield comparable safety levels, and are underpinned by lower bounds from life safety. Life cycle cost minimisation is reviewed here, which considers all direct and indirect costs of failure including loss of life and limb, as well as the costs and efficiency of increasing reliability. We discuss the incorporation of life safety into reliability-based design and assessment through the concept of the Life Quality Index, which uses key societal indicators, namely, the GDP and life expectancy, and health economics as a basis for specifying minimum reliabilities for both new and existing structures. The current state of advancement of reliability- and risk-informed design, and recommendations for future developments in life safety are considered. KW - Life safety KW - Structural assessment KW - Standardization KW - Reliability-based design KW - Risk-informed design Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strusafe.2024.102453 PB - Elsevier ER -