1.0 Title
2.0 Purpose:To identify CRITICAL unknowns and their corrective actions. Risk Analysis as defined in this CDID refers to a simplified version of a process which was developed for use in new equipment and systems used for space and military applications. There are numerous other types of risk analysis, however this CDID describes what is also known as Failure Modes Effects & Criticality Analysis (FMECA) and can be used in two basic ways:
- a hardware approach - which looks at a physical system and analyses functions, failures and their consequences.
- a business planning approach - which can look at objectives and what actions can be taken to ensure that they are met.
3.0 Usage: When a project appears to have a lot of unanswered questions about which tasks are important to do first and what should be left until later, the business approach may be in order. This can help to rationalize a set of high priority tasks, and eliminate or postpone tasks which are not as "critical". Where a project has already been decided and appears to be too expensive, or is suspiciously under-expensive, the hardware approach (which assumes a specific product "needs" to be developed) may yield more information about the tasks that should be done. It should be noted that the analysis can take place from a "Top-Down" or a "Bottom-Up" approach, or any level in between. Care should be taken to identify which way the logic flows however. Also any gaps should be noted, but not necessarily filled in. Should there be one or two well-defined "MUST" objectives (or functions) and a large and complex series of events that could combine to cause that objective to fail, a Fault Tree approach may help to sort out the immediate problems from the more remote ones.
4.0 Frequency: The first analysis should be done prior to developing the project plan. The analysis should be checked as the project progresses to ensure that the Objectives or configuration haven't changed or even the arguments within the analysis. It may be desirable to have a formal review at each progress meeting or milestone.
5.0 References:
5.1 MIL-STD-1629A : Failure Modes, Effects & Criticality Analysis (Attached)
6.0 Responsibility:
7.0 Ownership: Risk Analysis reports and worksheets are the intellectual and physical property of the client or his subcontractor unless otherwise negotiated.
8.0 Effort
9.0 Risks
10.0 Contents:
11.0 MetaData
12.0 File Handling Policy