Risk Assessment: Tools, Techniques, and Their Applications

Lee T. Ostrom, Cheryl A. Wilhelmsen

John Wiley & Sons, Jun 13, 2012 - Technology & Engineering - 416 pages

All the tools needed to perform a thorough risk assessment whether you're working in insurance, forensics, engineering, or public safety

Risk analysis is the method of analyzing the dangers to individuals, businesses, and government agencies posed by potential natural and man-made hazards. The central task of the risk assessor is predicting the success of a project. This includes isolating the entire spectrum of adverse events that can derail a project or threaten the health and safety of individuals, organizations, and the environment.

Designed as a practical, in-the-field toolkit, Risk Assessment details every aspect of how a risk assessment is performed, showing the proper tool to be used at various steps in the process, as well as locating the tool that best fits the risk assessment task at hand. Examining not only the very nature of risks and consequences, with fascinating historical examples, the book progresses from simple to more complex risk assessment techniques used by the authors in their daily work, all presented in a form that can be readily adapted to any number of real-life situations:

• Ecological Risk Assessment
• Task Analysis Techniques
• Preliminary Hazards Analysis
• Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
• Human Reliability Analysis
• Critical Incident Technique
• Event Tree and Decision Tree Analysis
• Basic Fault Tree Analysis Technique
• Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA)
• Vulnerability Analysis Technique
• Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods Used in Risk Assessment

With numerous industry-specific case studies, as well as additional case studies for risk assessments for a restaurant and a process plant, the book provides readers with complete examples of how each of the techniques can be used in a variety of real-world situations. Including downloadable worksheets and other useful assessment materials, as well as guidance on using PRA software, this unparalleled reference offers all the tools and techniques needed to conduct a thorough and accurate assessment of risk.

Contents

• Risk Perception: 13
• Risks and Consequences: 21
• Task Analysis Techniques: 56
• Preliminary Hazards Analysis: 64
• Primer on Probability and Statistics: 81
• Developing Probabilities: 97
• Failure Mode and Effects Analysis: 118
• Human Reliability Analyses: 135
• Event Tree and Decision Tree Analysis: 163
• 7: 201
• Used in Risk Assessment: 231
• and Maintenance Tasks: 277
• Industry Specific Case Studies: 346
• Restaurant Risk Assessment Case Study: 376
• Acronyms: 386
• 203: 390

About the author

LEE T. OSTROM, PHD, has worked in the fields of risk assessment, industrial safety, ergonomics, and human factors for over thirty years. A Certified Professional Ergonomist and Certified Safety Professional, he has been an assistant professor and degree coordinator for the industrial technology degree program at the University of Idaho. He is the author of Creating the Ergonomically Sound Workplace.

CHERYL A. WILHELMSEN is an assistant professor at APUS/AMU and consults with NASA Ames in the area of aviation inspection. In her thirty year career, she has conducted hundreds of ergonomic assessments and risk assessments from offices to nuclear hot cells. She has a master's of science in industrial technology from the University of Idaho and is currently a PhD.ABD.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Risk Assessment: Tools, Techniques, and Their Applications
• Authors: Lee T. Ostrom, Cheryl A. Wilhelmsen
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2012
• ISBN: 1118309634, 9781118309636
• Length: 416 pages
• Subjects: Science / Chemistry / General; Technology & Engineering / Engineering (General)