Which Maintenance Approach Focuses On Safety And Reliability And Includes Root Cause Analysis?

• A. Reliability Centered Maintenance
• B. Preventive Maintenance
• C. Condition-Based Predictive Maintenance
• D. Statistical-Based Predictive Maintenance

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is a maintenance approach that centers on safety and reliability and uses root cause analysis to prevent problems. Reliability Centered Maintenance does exactly that: it starts by identifying critical safety-related functions and the consequences of their failures, then uses root cause analysis to find why failures occur. With that insight, it selects maintenance actions designed to prevent recurrence and protect safety and performance, rather than just performing tasks on a fixed schedule. This approach may combine elements of different maintenance types, but the key criterion is making safety and reliability decisions based on understanding and eliminating root causes.

Preventive maintenance, in contrast, is typically scheduled regardless of actual condition, which can lead to unnecessary work or missed safety considerations. Condition-based predictive maintenance relies on equipment condition data to trigger tasks but doesn’t inherently mandate root cause analysis as part of the decision process. Statistical-based predictive maintenance uses data-driven models to forecast failures, focusing on timing of interventions rather than addressing root causes and safety-critical consequences.