The application of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) for the risk assessment of changes in the maintenance system of railway vehicles

This paper presents the application of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) for the risk assessment of changes in the maintenance system of railway vehicles based on the example of the 6Dg type shunting locomotive. The application example is preceded with an introduction to the methodological basis of FMEA, which is specified in literature and standards. In order to ensure the comparability of the analysis results with vehicles of a similar type and to quantify the risk components (the probability of hazard occurrence, the consequences of the occurrence of a hazard and the possibilities of hazard detection) the classification which applies to shunting locomotives was used. Based on the conducted analysis, the possibility to make changes to the maintenance plan for 6Dg locomotives which would not be in breach of the acceptable safety level was demonstrated and preventive safety measures were determined.