Figure 1 – Experience working in industrial plants and facilities is helpful when performing risk assessments, but it varies greatly from one person to the next. Image: Yokogawa
Risk assessment 17
Risk assessment for plant maintenance in the digital age R
isk assessment software applications
fully entrust their own well-being or the safety
legislation, best practices and good old
help industrial plants and facilities combine technology advantages with organisational experience and best
of personnel they supervise to an algorithm, and not many companies would stake their reputation as a responsible employer
common sense play a part also – but plant personnel possess different levels of experience and yes, common sense. These
practices to create improved safety solutions.
completely in the hands of a software program, however well designed. On the other hand, there is plenty we can do digitally to
types of variations often result in unacceptable levels of consistency or accuracy.
We live in an era where many of our day-today activities are carried out digitally – and many industrial plants and facilities also commonly perform tasks digitally – such as real-time machine and process control, work planning, and performance optimisation. Is it therefore a reasonable assumption that the same can be true for risk assessment?
help ensure the safety of personnel working in industrial plants and facilities.
It is difficult to imagine a completely digital solution where a risk assessment software program trawls safety and other operating records and spits out a comprehensive solution. The risk assessment software would undoubtedly find instances of things going wrong, and it could possibly identify some learnings from these incidents. However, what
Can we say that the electrons required in any digital evaluation of risk can replace the neurons required for the thought processes we currently use to perform these tasks?
selection of mitigating factors. These types of assessments rely on several sources for information.
Issues with risk assessment Let’s start by looking at the current methodology of risk assessment, where one evaluates the likelihood and potential of something going wrong before and after the
most people consider experience is also made up of things that don’t go wrong, as when long periods with no incidents are used as evidence of safe work practices.
Like many questions in life, the answer is a
Experience leads the way for many, with years of work in industrial settings (Figure
Times when things don’t go wrong probably
bit yes and some no. Few individuals would
1) informing many decisions. Standards,
by definition would not make it into any
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