Citation

White RF. Reliab. Eng. 1986; 15(3): 171-199.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1986, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0143-8174(86)90008-9

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A methodology is proposed which could be used to assess in more detail the wide spectrum of human factors which at present are not included in conventional ways of estimating the frequency of major hazards associated with a given plant. Event trees are used to identify the hazardous sequences following postulated initiating events. The associated fault trees are developed down to a level which reveals the operational and maintenance aspects of a plant which could contribute either to the failure of an operator to take the correct action or to the failure of a system to operate on demand. A simple example, i.e. the filling of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank, is used to illustrate the application of the proposed method which provides a consistent way of showing the effects of varying standards of plant operation and maintenance on the estimated frequency of the tank being overfilled.