So far as is reasonably practicable
Containment systems for the prevention of pollution, Secondary, tertiary and other measures for industrial and commercial premises (CIRIA C736), published by CIRIA in 2014, suggests that in the UK, so far as is reasonably practicable (SFAIRP) is: ‘…a process of weighing a health, safety or environmental risk against the trouble, time and money needed to control the risk. It describes the level to which risks should be controlled. Practically, it calls for the same set of tests to be applied as with ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable), however, the terms are not always interchangeable because of how they are cited in the relevant legislation’
See also: So Far As Is Reasonably Practical.
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