What Is A What-If Analysis?
A What-if analysis is a brainstorming activity that can be used to determine things that can go wrong in center scenarios. After determining what could negatively happen, the consequences are then judged thereafter. A What-if analysis can be used for any type of potential disaster. For the sake of this article, we will discuss how this analysis can be applied to a fire safety plan.
Based off of the answers that are obtained from what-if styled questions, informed judgments can then be made concerning the risks associated with moving forward with a particular activity. Any risks that have been deemed acceptable can have a course of action outlined about ways to avoid the potential disaster from occurring. When it comes to fire safety, it is vital to remember that prevention is key.
Steps To Conducting A What-If Analysis
When conducting a what-if analysis, the first thing that needs to take place is a leader must be selected. Once a leader is selected, they will then be responsible for walking their team through the steps of the analysis. The leader should utilize detailed diagrams and operating guidelines that the rest of the team can keep with them. Guidelines that determine what the acceptable safety levels are is important to hand out also.
Once the leader is assigned, it is time to get down to business. The team should then begin generating various what-if questions for the subject at hand, in this case, fire safety. When developing what-if questions, that will then need to be tested to determine if they are realistic or not, there are a few things to consider.
· Human error- Human error is the first thing to think about what conducting a what-if analysis. Many hazardous situations occur from a simple human mistake. Make some of your questions centered on this point.
· Equipment failure- Equipment failure is another reason that a fire could break out. Consider the different types of equipment that is used in your facility when conducting a what-if analysis.
· Deviations from expected parameters- Any deviation from a critical parameter can make the difference between a fire starting and its prevention.
Assess And Evaluate All Potential Risks
Once all what-if questions have been generated by the team, the next step is to review them. The team needs to gather all of the questions and determine if there are any likely error sources. They should then decide at this point, what the probability of each error occurring is. After the probability has been determined, then the consequences need to be accessed also. The consequences of something hazardous happening, make it extremely important to perform one of these analyses.
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