Best Practice for Risk Based Inspection

assessment and inspection may affect several parts of the organisation. Authority to
obtain the information needed for the risk assessment is required.
It is beneficial if the team leader has knowledge of risk assessment so as to be able
to control the process and make the appropriate judgements. Wider experience of
industrial risks and practices can help the team leader maintain an appropriate
balance between conflicting factors. The team leader must have sufficient all round
technical knowledge and experience of plant to know what information is required
and where to find it.
4.4. RIGOR AND CONDUCT OF THE APPROACH TO RBI ASSESSMENT
Before the process of RBI can commence, the team must know its terms of
reference and the necessary rigor of the approach. In some situations, the RBI team
will have formal terms of reference from senior management stating the purpose
and objectives of the inspection planning process. In many cases, the objectives of
the process are simply to design an inspection plan that clearly addresses the risks to
Health and Safety whilst meeting the relevant regulations.
It is helpful for Duty Holders to indicate ways in which the value of inspection can
be measured. Indicators might include the reduction of uncertainty, the numbers of
service failures, or the improved management of degradation within the design
allowances. This could also highlight the risks from not inspecting and time
dependent factors.
As risk assessment is best undertaken as an interactive process, the team needs to
have a number of meetings at different stages. It is usual for a record of these
meetings to be taken for future reference and as an audit trail. The record should
note how qualitative judgements and decisions were reached, and cite appropriate
references to other documentation.
The choice and rigor of the approach should reflect the complexity of the
installation and processes, the potential hazards, and the consequences of failure.
These will influence the need for detailed technical analyses or where more reliance
can be placed on engineering judgement and experience. Situations requiring a more
rigorous approach will include those where there can be high consequences
resulting from a single component failure, or where there are complex plant
conditions and active degradation mechanisms.
Before starting the process, a wise team will assess the circumstances and the
chances of a successful move towards a risk based framework. This will depend on
the availability and reliability of the information required and how much is currently
unknown. Timescales, costs and the access to sufficient expertise may also be
limiting factors.
Qualitative approaches to risk assessment can be acceptable and very beneficial.
Here engineering judgements are made about the likelihood and consequences of
failure on the basis of a systematic assessment of the relevant factors. In many
cases, the information required for a quantified risk assessment either does not exist,
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