Reliability assessment techniques

Williams, J.C. (1985) Validation of human reliability assessment technique. Reliability Engineering, 11, 149-162. 

Various human reliability assessment techniques may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of cross-checking activities - eg THERP (Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction) and HEART (Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique). It is important that any assessment is made by a competent human reliability specialist and that it is based on information provided by the operators who actually carry out the filling operation. 

Rail and Safety Standards Board (RSSB), Tracer for the Rail Industry Rail Specific Human Reliability Assessment Technique for Driving Tasks. 

Most chemical and petrochemical companies in the UK have made use of safety and reliability assessment techniques for plant evaluation and planning. Similar methods are regularly employed in relation to offshore production and exploration installations. 

Environment Human error reliability assessment technique,... 

Human error reliability assessment technique. Detailed analysis of the functions to be accomplished by the human/machine/ environment system and the tasks performed by the human to achieve those functions. 

In addition, the chapter will provide an overview of htunan reliability quantification techniques, and the relationship between these techniques and qualitative modeling. The chapter will also describe how human reliability is integrated into chemical process quantitative risk assessment (CPQRA). Both qualitative and quantitative techniques will be integrated within a framework called SPEAR (System for Predictive Error Analysis and Reduction). 

Kirwan, B. (1992). Human Error Identification in Reliability Assessment. Part 2 Detailed comparison of techniques. Applied Ergonomics 23(6), 371-381. 

Reliability Data Processing, 4) Safety and Reliability Assessment, 5) Data and Uncertainties, 6) Human Reliability, 7) Reliability Modelling and Techniques, 8) Reliability Feedback in Systems Design and Operation, 9) Intelligent Interfaces for Data Retrieval. 

However, to obtain absolute concentrations of metabolites, it is necessary to analyse precisely the area under the resonance line of interest which is especially difficult for overlapping signals. In addition, a reliable calibration technique is needed to assess the correlation between the area under a resonance line and the absolute concentration of the metabolite in the tissue. 

Because MIB-1 monoclonal antibody is used extensively to determine the cell proliferation index, its applications are discussed below. This antibody detects the nuclear antigen Ki-67 expressed in proliferating cells but not in resting cells. The antibody reacts with the nuclei of cells in mid-Gj (first gap), S (DNA synthesis), G2 (second gap), and M (mitosis) phases, but not in the G0 or quiescent phases. The use of MIB-1 antibody is one of the simplest and most reliable labeling techniques for assessing the rate of proliferation of a neoplastic cell population. Thus, the antibody can be used to assess the growth fraction (i.e., the number of cells in cell cycle) of normal, reactive, and neoplastic tissues. 

The determination of radionuclides in environmental samples is an important task in relation to the protection of human health. This is especially the case when there is an accidental release of radioactivity into the environment, as was the case with the Chernobyl accident. Assessment of the situation requires knowledge of the type and form of released radionuclides and reliable, practical techniques for the analysis of various radionuclides. 

The selection of a suitable extracting agent can be supported by gas chromatographic head space analysis. This technique allows the fast determination of an extracting agent by measuring the difference in relative volatility via peak areas in the vapour phase. It permits the fast and reliable assessment of various components to be added with regard to suitability [33]. 

Fussell, J.B. Fault Tree Analysis Concepts and Techniques", Generic Techniques in System Reliability Assessment, 1976... 

Further, a major concern in the domain of selection research is the development of technologies designed to address the validity and rehabitity of instruments used to select personnel. ( Validity deals with the question of determining the extent to which an assessment technique actually measures what it purports to measure, such as intelligence, clerical skill, tmd mathematical aptitude. Reliability addresses the extent to which such an instrument measures whatever it purports to measure consistently, that is, without major score differences upon repeated applications of the instrument to the same people.) Such topics as these, while very important, are beyond the scope of this chapter. 

Advances in personal monitoring for exposure assessment studies are currently dependent upon the development of reliable analytical techniques and instrumentation applicable to PEMs. Currently PEMs for carbon monoxide are the most highly developed and evaluated. Carbon monoxide is an emission product which can be directly related to lead emissions from automotive combustion. Personal exposure monitors for CO are being used in urban studies to obtain population exposure data on a real time basis. This information can be used in risk assessment. 

After determining what functions must be accomplished for each goal, it is necessary to determine how well each function must be accomplished to meet the top-level criteria and requirements. For this purpose, reliability evaluations and probabilistic risk assessment techniques (Ref. 3) have been used to supplement standard engineering techniques and to provide an integrated allocation of the top-level criteria and requirements to specific plant systems. PRA techniques have also been used to identify the relative importance of events and plant structures, systems, and components in responding to such events, as described in Section 3.2. 

Mathematical models of ageing processes and probabilistic safety assessment techniques can be used to determined how ageing affects component and system unavailability. Reference [2] provides some details on the development of probabilistic safety assessment techniques applicable to ageing of power reactors that may be useful as an example. Reference [9] does the same for the case of data collection concerning the reliability of research reactor systems and components. 

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