How to manage a risk analysis program

A risk analysis program is one of the most important activities in which a reliability engineer, quality engineer or project designer can take part. The team activities that go into creating a risk analysis are often some of the most critical and important for any company. Primary results are the reduction of direct risk to a company and the improvement of products and processes. The secondary results are often more important. These include time to market, corporate reputation, enhanced system performance, reduced reliability and warranty costs and maintenance of a favorable reception of a corporate product line. Most importantly, included in secondary benefits is the extension and enhancement of corporate reputation. Risk analysis can be viewed as the balancing of a number of dynamic, non-linear and critical corporate business factors all related to corporate success (McLinn 1994, 1996, 1997). Thus, the method of and outcomes from the risk analysis are vital. Three common tools are used for risk analysis: failure mode effects analysis (FMEA), fault tree analysis (FTA) and hazard analysis.