Asset Management Risk-Based Asset Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does 'risk tolerance' mean in an asset management context?
- The maximum budget allocated to repairs
- The level of risk an organization is willing to accept (Correct answer)
- The number of failures allowed per year
- The minimum inspection frequency
Correct answer: The level of risk an organization is willing to accept
Risk tolerance defines the threshold of risk an organization is prepared to accept without taking further mitigation action.
Question 2: Which maintenance strategy is most aligned with a risk-based approach for critical assets?
- Run-to-failure maintenance
- Condition-based maintenance (Correct answer)
- Calendar-based preventive maintenance
- Corrective maintenance only
Correct answer: Condition-based maintenance
Condition-based maintenance (CBM) monitors actual asset health to intervene only when risk indicators suggest imminent failure, reducing both risk and cost.
Question 3: A Bow-Tie diagram in risk management shows:
- The supply chain for spare parts
- Threats leading to a hazard event and consequences with barriers on each side (Correct answer)
- The organizational hierarchy for risk decisions
- Asset depreciation over time
Correct answer: Threats leading to a hazard event and consequences with barriers on each side
A Bow-Tie diagram depicts threats (left side) leading to a central hazard event and the consequences (right side), with barriers shown on both sides.
Question 4: What is the purpose of a risk register in asset management?
- Track asset purchase orders
- Document identified risks, their likelihood, impact, and mitigation actions (Correct answer)
- Record employee training completions
- List all assets by department
Correct answer: Document identified risks, their likelihood, impact, and mitigation actions
A risk register is a log that records each identified risk, its assessed likelihood and consequence, assigned owner, and planned mitigation.
Question 5: Which metric represents the average time between consecutive failures of a repairable asset?
- MTTR
- OEE
- MTBF (Correct answer)
- RPN
Correct answer: MTBF
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) measures the average operating time between failures, indicating an asset's reliability.
Question 6: In a risk matrix, an asset with HIGH probability of failure and LOW consequence would typically be classified as:
- Critical risk — immediate action required
- Medium risk — managed by routine procedures (Correct answer)
- Negligible risk — no action needed
- Catastrophic risk — project shutdown required
Correct answer: Medium risk — managed by routine procedures
High probability but low consequence generally places an asset in a medium risk band, managed through standard procedures and monitoring.
Asset Management Risk-Based Asset Management 2
What does 'risk tolerance' mean in an asset management context?