The Chernobyl
M19_SLAC0460_06_SE_C19.QXD
10/20/09
9:55
Page 597
Chapter 19
Risk management
■
Failure over time is often represented as a failure curve. The most common form of this is the so-called ‘bath-tub curve’ which shows the chances of failure being greater at the beginning and end of the life of a system or part of a system.
■
Failure analysis mechanisms include accident investigation, product liability, complaint analysis, critical incident analysis, and failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA).
➤ How can failures be prevented?
■
There are four major methods of improving reliability: designing out the fail points in the operation, building redundancy into the operation, ‘fail-safeing’ some of the activities of the operation, and maintenance of the physical facilities in the operation.
■
Maintenance is the most common way operations attempt to improve their reliability, with three broad approaches. The first is running all facilities until they break down and then repairing them, the second is regularly maintaining the facilities even if they have not broken down, and the third is to monitor facilities closely to try to predict when breakdown might occur.
■
Two specific approaches to maintenance have been particularly influential: total productive maintenance (TPM) and reliability-centred maintenance (RCM).
➤ How can operations mitigate the effects of failure?
■
Risk, or failure, mitigation means isolating a failure from its negative consequences.
■
Risk mitigation actions include:
– Mitigation planning.
– Economic mitigation.
– Containment (spatial and temporal).
– Loss reduction.
– Substitution.
➤ How can operations recover from the effects of failure?
■
Recovery can be enhanced by a systematic approach to discovering what has happened to cause failure, acting to inform, contain and follow up the consequences of failure, learning to find the root cause of the failure and preventing it taking
10/20/09
9:55
Page 597
Chapter 19
Risk management
■
Failure over time is often represented as a failure curve. The most common form of this is the so-called ‘bath-tub curve’ which shows the chances of failure being greater at the beginning and end of the life of a system or part of a system.
■
Failure analysis mechanisms include accident investigation, product liability, complaint analysis, critical incident analysis, and failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA).
➤ How can failures be prevented?
■
There are four major methods of improving reliability: designing out the fail points in the operation, building redundancy into the operation, ‘fail-safeing’ some of the activities of the operation, and maintenance of the physical facilities in the operation.
■
Maintenance is the most common way operations attempt to improve their reliability, with three broad approaches. The first is running all facilities until they break down and then repairing them, the second is regularly maintaining the facilities even if they have not broken down, and the third is to monitor facilities closely to try to predict when breakdown might occur.
■
Two specific approaches to maintenance have been particularly influential: total productive maintenance (TPM) and reliability-centred maintenance (RCM).
➤ How can operations mitigate the effects of failure?
■
Risk, or failure, mitigation means isolating a failure from its negative consequences.
■
Risk mitigation actions include:
– Mitigation planning.
– Economic mitigation.
– Containment (spatial and temporal).
– Loss reduction.
– Substitution.
➤ How can operations recover from the effects of failure?
■
Recovery can be enhanced by a systematic approach to discovering what has happened to cause failure, acting to inform, contain and follow up the consequences of failure, learning to find the root cause of the failure and preventing it taking