Optimum prioritisation and resource allocation based on fault tree analysis

Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a technique widely used in the study of the reliability of industrial systems and to quantify risks associated with potentially hazardous systems. Most of the studies carried out are related to how to construct a fault tree and how to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis. However, this paper studies an approach for prioritisation and optimum resource allocation by making use of the FTA technique. The basic idea is to develop a simple procedure for the ranking of basic elements in the complex system, so that maximum increase in reliability can be achieved. We compare our approach with the existing basic event importance measures, and show that the simple approach is easy to apply and provides ranking that is similar to other more complicated approaches. In addition, the new ranking approach can be used at the initial stages of fault tree construction as it does not require the whole fault tree to be completely developed. © MCB University Press, 0265-67IX.