Investigation of the Effect of Control Measures on Reduction of Risk Events in an Edible Oil Factory in Tehran, Iran

Background & Aims of the Study: Identification of hazards is one of the first goals of riskanalysis. Failure mode and effect analysis method (FMEA) is universally defined as efficientprocedures for finding potential failures aimed to remove or decrease the risk which is related tothem. This study aimed to investigate the effect of control measures on reduction of risk eventsin an edible oil factory in Tehran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in an edible oil factory in Tehran, Iran. Forthis, a four-member team of safety engineer experts was formed. Some factory units wereselected randomly. After that, in all units, probability, severity and detection probability ofhazards in all processes and tasks were assessed based on FMEA method. Regarding to the RPN,some control measures were taken to reduce the risk of events. After 9 months, risk assessmentwas repeated; primary and secondary RPNs were compared with each other to investigate theeffect of interventions.Results: The results showed that highest and lowest probability of hazard were related toinstallation and can production unit, respectively. The highest and lowest severity of hazard wererelated to tool and can production unit, respectively. There was a significant difference betweenthe probability of hazard in can-making and filling units, before and after the interventions. Therewas a significant difference between the severity of hazard in can-making, filling andneutralization units, before and after the interventions. As well, total probability, severity andRPN had a significant difference in all parts of the factory before and after the interventions.Conclusions: According to the results of this study and the overall risk reduction caused byinterventional measures, it can be concluded that, FMEA is a successful method for identifyinghazards and risk control measures.

Keywords:

Risk Assessment , Occupational Safety , preventive measures , RiskEdible OilIran