The objective of this study was to demonstrate an alternative approach to risk assessment of organisational changes, based on the principles of resilience engineering. The approach in question was the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM). Whereas established approaches focus on risks coming from failure or malfunctioning of components, alone or in combination, resilience engineering focuses on the common functions and processes that provide the basis for both successes and failures. Resilience engineering more precisely proposes that failures represent the flip side of the adaptations necessary to cope with the real world complexity rather than a failure of normal system functions and that a safety assessment therefore should focus on how functions are carried out rather than on how they may fail.
The objective of this study was not to evaluate the current approach to risk assessment used by the organisation in question. The current approach has nevertheless been used as a frame of reference, but in a non-evaluative manner.
While it is clear that the two approaches are different, the choice of which to use in a given case cannot simply be made from the
The author has demonstrated through the selected case that FRAM can be used as an alternative approach to organizational changes. The report provides the reader with details to consider when making a decision on what analysis approach to use. The choice of which approach to use must reflect priorities and concerns of the organisation and the author makes no statement about which approach is better. It is clear that the choice of an analysis approach is not so simple to make and there are many things to take into account such as the larger working environment, organisational culture, regulatory requirements, etc.