How do you prioritize maintenance tasks by risk?

1 What is risk-based maintenance?

Risk-based maintenance (RBM) is a proactive approach that prioritizes maintenance tasks according to the potential impact and likelihood of failure of your assets. The goal of RBM is to optimize your resources, reduce downtime, and prevent costly breakdowns and accidents. RBM helps you focus on the critical assets that pose the highest risk to your facility's operations, compliance, and reputation.

2 How to use a risk matrix?

A risk matrix is a simple tool that helps you evaluate and compare the risk level of your maintenance tasks. It consists of a grid with two axes: one for the impact or consequence of failure, and one for the probability or frequency of failure. You can assign different scores or ratings to each axis, depending on your criteria and standards. Then, you can plot your tasks on the matrix and categorize them into different zones, such as low, medium, high, or extreme risk. The higher the risk, the higher the priority.

3 What factors to consider?

When prioritizing your maintenance tasks by risk, you should consider various factors that influence the impact and probability of failure, such as the type and condition of your assets, their function and importance, the cost and availability of resources, and the feedback and expectations of stakeholders . For instance, older, complex assets exposed to harsh environments may require more frequent maintenance than newer, simpler ones, while essential assets may have a higher impact if they fail than non-critical ones. You may also have to balance the cost of preventive versus corrective maintenance or the availability of spare parts, tools, or personnel. Additionally, you should consider the needs and preferences of customers, employees, contractors, suppliers, regulators, or owners.

4 How to plan and schedule your maintenance tasks?

Once you have prioritized your maintenance tasks based on risk, you can plan and schedule them with your facility's goals, budget, and capacity in mind. A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) can help automate and streamline processes, such as work orders, inventory, reports, and alerts. Additionally, you should apply the appropriate maintenance strategy for each asset based on its risk level and performance indicators. It's also important to coordinate and communicate with your maintenance team and other departments to ensure everyone is aware of their roles, responsibilities, and deadlines. Lastly, monitoring and measuring maintenance performance and outcomes, such as downtime, reliability, quality, and costs can help you adjust your plan and schedule as needed.

5 How to improve your risk-based maintenance?

Risk-based maintenance is not a one-time activity, but a continuous improvement process. You should regularly review and update your risk assessment and prioritization, as well as your maintenance plan and schedule, to reflect the changes and challenges in your facility. You should also seek feedback and suggestions from your maintenance team and other stakeholders, and learn from your successes and failures. By doing so, you can enhance your risk-based maintenance and achieve better results for your facility.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?