Course description:

This course is intended is intended to teach the fundamentals of Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) with a focus on product safety.  The course is comprised of both theory, and practice in the form of a workshop. The learners become familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of FTA and learn how to be efficient and effective in the use of this analytical technique.  FTA is a complementary technique to FMEA.  It is recommended that risk management analysts have a working knowledge of both techniques.

Intended Audience:

RM #103 is intended for people who will be performing Fault Tree Analysis, or will be reviewing and approving FTAs.  This includes Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing (OPs), and who people perform Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) root cause analyses.

Objective:

RM #103 offers knowledge on the following topics:

• What is a Fault Tree?
• What is Fault Tree Analysis?
• History of FTA
• Strengths and weaknesses of FTA
• FTA Vocabulary and symbols
• Theory of Fault Tree Analysis
• Boolean algebra
• Boolean identities
• Boolean simplification
• Cut sets and minimal cut sets
• Single point failures
• Common cause failures
• Qualitative and Quantitative analysis
• FTA construction and ground rules
• Tips and advice for success

The course includes a workshop to learn how to put into practice, the principles and knowledge gained in the course.

Upon completion, participants should:

1. Understand what FTA is, its purpose, objective, strengths and weaknesses
2. Understand the language and symbols of FTA
3. Be able to perform Fault Tree Analysis
4. Know what it takes to be successful and efficient in performing FTAs

Duration: 3:30 hours

Language of instruction: English

Means of delivery: In-person (preferred), and online via Zoom

CEU: ASQ and CSQE certified professionals can receive CEUs. Ask for a certificate of attendance.

About the Instructor

Award winning, international educator, consultant, and author

Bijan Elahi has worked in risk management for medical devices for over 30 years at the largest medical device companies in the world, as well as small startups.  He is a Technical Fellow, and the Medtronic corporate Advisor on safety risk management of medical devices.  In this capacity, he offers education and consulting on risk management to all Medtronic business units, worldwide.  Bijan is a lecturer at Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands), where he teaches risk management to doctoral students in engineering.  At the invitation of the FDA, he teaches a graduate course on medical device risk management at Drexel University (Philadelphia, USA).

Bijan Elahi is the founder of MedTech Safety, Inc., an education and advisory company. He has educated over 10,000 individuals worldwide with outstanding results.  Bijan is a frequently invited speaker at international professional conferences, and is also a contributor to ISO 14971, the international standard on the application of risk management to medical devices. He is the author of the best-selling book: Safety Risk Management for Medical Devices, published by Elsevier publishing.