THE WORK PROCESS ANALYSIS MODEL (WPAM)

The work process analysis model-I (WPAM-I) along with its products developed in a previous paper (Davoudian, K., Wu, J.-S. & Apostolakis, G., Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 45 (1994) 85-105 are used as inputs to WPAM-II. The goal is to provide the link between organizational factors (or dimensions), work processes, and probabilistic safety assessment parameters in order to facilitate the quantification of the impact or organizational factors on plant safety. This is achieved by calculating new (organizationally dependent) probabilities for minimal cut sets so that each new probability contains in it, either explicitly or implicitly, the effect of the pertinent organizational factors. A sample case is presented demonstrating the application of WPAM to a specific minimal cut set. Finally, sensitivity analyses are performed in order to explore the effectiveness of organizational improvements as a risk management strategy.