Use of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Improving Safety: A Case Study in An Oil Company

Introduction: The Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), first of all,identifies dangerous modes in a process and, then, provides proper controlmeasures that are required to reduce the level of risk. This study aims toinvestigate the risk level before and after the implementation of control measuresin an edible oil factory.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in an edible oil factory inTehran, Iran. The FMEA technique was used to identify failure modes related toequipment that existed in five units of this factory. After that, in all units, RiskPriority Numbers of all the processes were assessed on the basis of the FMEAmethod. With regard to the Risk Priority Number (RPN), some control measureswere taken to reduce the risk of events. After nine months, risk assessment wasrepeated, and primary and secondary RPNs were compared with each other toinvestigate the effects of interventions.Results: The results showed that the highest probability of danger was related tothe installation unit. The probability of danger in this unit before and afterinterventional actions was 4.5 and 3.25 respectively and the highest degree ofseverity was related to tool production. The marginal homogeneity test showedthe positive effect of control measures on the risk level in the factory. There wasa significant inference between before- and after-data in RPN in the unit toolproduction, neutralization unit, and installation unit. The Tests of RepeatedMeasure showed that there was a statistically significant inference betweenbefore- and after-data in the total average of RPN criterion (pvalue < 0.001).Conclusion: It can be concluded that the high risk level in the factory units wasreduced after the application of interventional corrective measures. These actionshave been useful. It can be mentioned that the FMEA has been successfully ableto identify and control the level of risk in this factory.

Keywords:

Risk Assessment , FMEA , Edible oil factory , RPN