Operational Risk Management Assessment

The Blog entry for this week focuses on Risk Management and the tools used to study hazards, hazards analysis, and tracking mitigating actions to address or eliminate those hazards. Tools used in this Operational Risk Management are: PHL (Preliminary Hazard List), PHA (Preliminary Hazard Assessment), and the OHR&A (Operational Hazard Review and Analysis.

Preliminary Hazard List (PHL) 
The sUAS (small Unmanned Aircraft System) I decided to perform my Operational Risk Management Analysis on is the DJI Pro Phantom 4 during staging. The scenario activities that it will be used to perform is capturing video or photos of real estate home for sale. The PHL (preliminary hazard list) is a risk management tool which provides and in-depth view of the risk being evaluated at various steps in the operation of a sUAS. “The PHL is a brainstorming tool to identify initial safety issues early in the UAS operation” (Marshall, et al., 2011, p. 125).

The PHL I developed for my scenario focuses on two risks which are the environment in which the DJI Phantom Pro 4 will operate within and also addressing an issue faced by the operator holding the control pad in hand while operating the sUAS. The risk level assessment values are determined to be 19 due to the possibility of engaging nearby risk, and also the possibility of a maneuver due to the controller instability.  Rating values determining risks are based on MIL-STD-882D/E.

The PHL also provides information for tracking an issue which is denoted as a numerical value, which in the example provided is denoted as one for the environmental awareness hazard, and two for the human factor issue with respect to the handheld controller. The hazard type describes they type of hazards faced which in my example is the surrounding houses, trees, automobiles, power lines, and people such as possible onlookers. The probability section of the PHL which provides the mishap description level of an individual item. The examples provided mishap ratings of remote which means “unlikely but possible to occur in the life of an item with a probability of occurrence less than 10-3 but greater than 10-6 in that life” (Marshall, et al., 2011, p. 193).

The severity level is determined to be negligible due to the estimation of the cost involved “Could result in injury or illness not resulting in lost work days loss exceeding $2K but less than $10K minimal environmental damage, not violating law or regulation” (Marshall, et al., 2011, p. 194). Risk Level and residual risk levels are denoted numerical values according to mishap risk assessment matrix. The numerical values are comprised to communicate values in a system which communicates higher numerical values denote lower risk and lower numerical values denote higher risk. The values taken to denote the degree of risk associated with a determined hazard are taken from the risk matrix of probability vs. severity. Finally a mitigating action section is provided in order to detail action which will be taken to address the hazard issue. The mitigating action provided also determines if a chosen course of action has any effect on the overall operation.

Preliminary Hazard Assessment (PHA) 
The Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA) is a tool used to analyze the information gathered from the PHL. The PHA according to Marshall et al., (2011) “Once the initial risks have been identified, we now move into analysis to determine ways to mitigate the listed hazards” (Marshall et al., 2011, p. 126).
The PHA used in my scenario addressed the operation of the DJI Pro Phantom 4 by having the operator inform neighbors of the action taking place (video or photos being taken), securing the perimeter of the house (keeping anyone not associated with the real estate company or home ownership away from the immediate area and property), and use and adjustment of a lanyard which aids in resting the weight of the controller around the operators neck in order to provide an improved degree of stability and remove the excess work being performed by the operators hands.
The actions mitigating the listed risks were evaluated to provide residual risk level values of 25. The listed action used in the PHA will provide the necessary actions that need to take place in order to address and reduce the severity of a hazard listed in the PHL.

Operational Hazard Review and Analysis (OHR&A)
Once the PHA data and PHL analysis is performed, the next step in the risk management analysis is to comprise an Operational Hazard Review and Analysis (OHR&A). According to Marshal et al., (2011) “the OHR&A is used to identify and evaluate hazards throughout the entire operation and its stages (planning, staging, launching, flight, and recovery), continuous evaluation of hazards provides the feedback necessary to determine that the mitigating actions have worked” (Marshall et al., 2011, p. 126).

The OHR&A used in my scenario determined the actions which were mitigated before operation (staging). The actions that are to be taken were determined to initially address risk level values of 14 and 18, severity levels of marginal and negligible, and probability ratings of remote and occasional.
The resultant mitigating actions provided residual risk level values of 25. The mitigating actions of securing the area by informing neighbors of the video and photos which are being taken, securing the area by keeping onlookers away from the immediate area, and installing, wearing and adjusting the operator lanyard provided the operator with pre-flight instructions to be performed for everyone’s safety.

The actions taken also decrease the chance of in-flight obstructions with objects or people by instructing the operator of the important initial action of being observable or mindful of their surroundings which may be encountered in order to be prepared for maneuvering actions.
Operational Risk Management Assessment Tool (ORM)
The Operational Risk Management Assessment Tool (ORM) is used to complement the PHL and the PHA analysis in order to provide the operator further safety guidance when operating an unmanned aircraft. Marshall et al., (2011) states “the risk assessment tool is meant to be an aid in the decision-making process, tailor it to your specific operation, and discuss the factors with those directly involved in the operation” (Marshall et al., 2011, p. 129).

The ORM used in my scenario describes various instances which encompass a single user who is experienced, a new trainee with no experience, and additional payload which may be added to the DJI Phantom Pro 4 in the future. The ORM is custom tailored to the real estate operation by stating various parameters of operation such as daytime only flight operation, max altitude operation, operator experience level, and visibility distances.
The rating used in the ORM assessment also provides a number scale evaluation similar to the PHL and PHA, by assigning lower numerical values to greater risk while larger numerical values pertain to lower risk. The numerical scale can also be custom tailored but to remove any possibility of confusion it would be most beneficial to align it with the already predetermined MIL-STD-882D/E.

References

DJI. (2017). Phantom 4 Pro. DJI Phantom 4 Pro Comparison, Retrieved from https://www.dji.com/phantom-4-pro?site=brandsite&from=nav

Marshall, D. M., Barnhart, R. K., Hottman, S. B., Shappee, E., & Most, M. T. (Eds.). (2011). Introduction to unmanned aircraft systems. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com