M
menckem
I have a question regarding the influence of a human’s actions on the availability of a system’s functions.
I understand that availability (and railway RAMS in general) is influenced by system conditions, operating conditions and maintenance conditions.
A simple example:
1. A human operator cancels a system function by introducing erroneous data or by accidentally cancelling it, for example by activating a “cancel” button accidentally.
2. An operator voluntarily makes a function unavailable, that is, he cancels a function fully knowing that he is cancelling it (lowering or completely cancelling its availability).
I understand that the availability of a system can be influenced by the failure of the functions that the system has to provide (and external resources). The failure of these functions can be caused by component failure or by human actions, among other things. However, I would like to know whether the human actions which cause a failure of the system’s function must be erroneous actions on the part of the human operator, or whether a voluntary action can also be considered to impact on system availability. I would tend to differentiate the two. That is, scenario 1 can be considered to influence the failure of system functions, but scenario 2 cannot be considered to cause a failure of system functions, it is part of normal operation.
I’m asking this because I have just read somewhere that a system function can be cancelled due to a voluntary action by the user of the system, and I have some doubts about that.
Thanks a lot
I understand that availability (and railway RAMS in general) is influenced by system conditions, operating conditions and maintenance conditions.
A simple example:
1. A human operator cancels a system function by introducing erroneous data or by accidentally cancelling it, for example by activating a “cancel” button accidentally.
2. An operator voluntarily makes a function unavailable, that is, he cancels a function fully knowing that he is cancelling it (lowering or completely cancelling its availability).
I understand that the availability of a system can be influenced by the failure of the functions that the system has to provide (and external resources). The failure of these functions can be caused by component failure or by human actions, among other things. However, I would like to know whether the human actions which cause a failure of the system’s function must be erroneous actions on the part of the human operator, or whether a voluntary action can also be considered to impact on system availability. I would tend to differentiate the two. That is, scenario 1 can be considered to influence the failure of system functions, but scenario 2 cannot be considered to cause a failure of system functions, it is part of normal operation.
I’m asking this because I have just read somewhere that a system function can be cancelled due to a voluntary action by the user of the system, and I have some doubts about that.
Thanks a lot
