CivE 789A
Risk Management Principles and Tools
Description
This course delivers a comprehensive foundation in risk management and safety engineering principles for industrial and organizational contexts. Students will explore the distinctions between technical and occupational safety, master hands-on risk assessment procedures, and evaluate organizational safety cultures and management systems. Through industry-standard tools—such as Fault Tree, Event Tree, Bowtie, and FMEA analysis—and the evaluation of high-profile case studies (e.g., BP Deepwater Horizon, Boeing 737 Max), students will learn to diagnose systemic weaknesses. The course culminates in an independent investigation of an industrial loss incident, where students apply root-cause analysis and present risk-mitigation strategies.Learning Outcomes
- Explain the purpose and differences between technical safety and occupational safety.- Explain hazard identification and risk assessment procedures and use various methods for hazard identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation, and risk treatment.
- Appraise the safety culture of an organization and obtain skills to positively influence the safety culture of an organization towards improving or sustaining safety performance.
- Evaluate the benefits and elements of a Risk Management System.
- Apply several leadership tools to evaluate workplace conditions and practices and recommend management system improvements.
- Describe the different aspects of Inherently Safer Design and Design Safety Reviews.
- Appraise numerous risk management tools (Risk Criteria, Risk Matrices, Fault Tree Analysis, Root Cause Analysis, Event Tree Analysis, Bowtie Analysis, What-If Analysis, Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis).
- Evaluate leading/lagging indicators and recognize the value of leading indicators for safety.
- Communicate risks effectively to stakeholders and differentiate between different types of and contexts for communication of risk assessments.
- Undertake an incident investigation and perform a root cause or fault tree analysis and bowtie analysis on an industrial loss incident of the student’s choosing.
- Analyze risk management failures in a number of case studies, such as Boeing 737 Max, Lac Megantic, Hyatt Regency Walkway, Calgary Floods, BP Deepwater Horizon, Mount Polley, etc.
- Develop and present a term paper analyzing a loss incident with respect to RME weaknesses and provide recommendations in order to prevent recurrence of loss incidents.
| Lecture | Seminar | Lab | Credits | Total AU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 3 | 37.8 |
| M % | NS % | CS % | ES % | ED % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
None defined
None defined
Undergraduate Program(s)
Sections & Respective Instructors
| A1 - 2026/2027 - Fall - Renato Macciotta Pulisci & Lisa White |
| B2 - 2024/2025 - Winter - Renato Macciotta Pulisci & Lisa White |
| A2 - 2022/2023 - Fall - Renato Macciotta Pulisci & Lisa White |
| A1 - 2020/2021 - Fall - Renato Macciotta Pulisci & Lisa White |