PROCESS SAFETY
OUR SERVICES
- Compatibility Study
- Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA)
- Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP)
- Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
- Hazard Analysis and the Critical Control Points (HACCP)
- Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
- Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)
- Risk Management Plan (RMP)
- Inherent Safety
- Consequence Analysis for Events with Flammable and Toxic Chemicals
- Equipment and Process Plants Reliability Studies
- Control of Static Electricity in Chemical Plants
- Training and Information Courses in the Risk Assessment and Management Techniques
- Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Assessment
- Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA)
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
The failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a technique of inductive reasoning to examine the equipment failure modes and its effects on the system. The FMEA technique was created in the U.S. Department of Defense in order to identify the hazards of new projects (MIL-STD-1629A) and to increase systems reliability. Since then, it has been used by several industries.
As implicit in the term, failure modes are the symptoms, the conditions or the ways in which the equipment fail. They can be identified as loss of a function, a premature actuation (actuation without demand), a condition out of tolerance, or a physical characteristic, such as a leak observed during an inspection. The effect of a failure mode is determined by the system response to this failure.
This technique is applicable to any well-defined specific system, but its main use is intended for equipment that has components with mechanical and/or electrical and/or electronic interaction. In general terms, the purposes of this technique are (1) identify how each component failure modes may result in performance problems and (2) identify the control measures.
The failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) application doesn’t require too much information. Usually, the manufacturer drawings and/or specification sheets are enough. It is recommended that the analysis is also undertaken by teamwork, with at least three members, specialized in different disciplines.