Rapid Risk Assessment for the Deferred Maintenance

Adopting appropriate maintenance planning can increase the profitability of industrial plants, for example by eliminating unexpected shutdowns or minimizing production interruption. Furthermore, the use of appropriate scheduled maintenance can help reducing operators’ risks, mainly through the reduction of the probability of failure or unwanted events in general. Different needs may result in deferring the maintenance activities both internal to the company (e.g. production needs) or external (e.g. the availability of spare parts or the personnel shortage, as for COVID19 pandemic). In case postponing the maintenance could be needed, it is essential to assess the risks associated with the delays, both on production and on the assets and operators’ safety. To help the companies in these assessments, this paper presents a rapid methodology to assess the risks associated to deferred maintenance. The proposed methodology is based on the use of Fuzzy logic.The methodology uses as parameters for risk assessment data related to: the delay in maintenance, the working conditions -including the amount of hours worked and operating conditions (temperature, severity of fluids, ...) -, the measures adopted to monitor the state of wear of the equipment and the consequences of unwanted events. The methodology returns an indication of the risk band associated with deferred maintenance.