Resilience Engineering for Sustainable Prevention in the Manufacturing Sector: A Comparative Study of Two Methods of Risk Analysis

Annick Melanson,Sylvie Nadeau

doi:10.4236/ajibm.2019.91017

Abstract

Manufacturing businesses today have become complex sociotechnical systems. They must manage a variety of risks, including those related to occupational health and safety and emergent ones. In this article, we examine the possibility of using resilience engineering to provide a framework for the management of OHS and emergent risks in manufacturing businesses. More specifically, we compare failure mode effect and criticality analysis (FMECA) to functional resonance analysis method (FRAM), the former being an established risk analysis method in the manufacturing sector and the latter being a relatively novel method used primarily in high-risk sectors such as air transportation, hospitals and railways. These two methods differ in several respects, but comparison reveals their relative advantages as well as their complementarity. Our principal finding confirms the advantages of the functional resonance analysis method in risk management for complex systems. Although failure mode effect and criticality analysis is more effective for understanding technical risks, functional resonance analysis method provides better understanding of the system as a whole and allows more efficient management of organizational risks as well as risks associated with the variability of human performance.

Highlights

We examine the possibility of using resilience engineering to provide a framework for the management of occupational health and safety (OHS) and emergent risks in manufacturing businesses
Failure mode effect and criticality analysis is more effective for understanding technical risks, functional resonance analysis method provides better understanding of the system as a whole and allows more efficient management of organizational risks as well as risks associated with the variability of human performance
We examine the application of the systemic method known as functional resonance analysis method (FRAM), which is representative of resilience engineering

Summary

Introduction

Proper management of risks is an important part of ensuring the competitive-. The rapid pace of the changes taking place in this economic sector is increasing the complexity of the business environment and creating all kinds of emergent risks that must be taken into account. A business must be able to analyze and assess them. Risk analysis is a systematic process of identifying occurrences that could affect an organization’s chances of attaining its goals [2]. This process is essential for all managerial functions of a business, including occupational health and safety (OHS)

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Conclusion