What information is needed before starting a criticality analysis?
Start with a defined system boundary, an asset list, operating context and people who understand the consequences of equipment failure.
What to consider
Gather the current asset hierarchy, relevant drawings, operating modes, available redundancy, failure and repair history, and any relevant safety, environmental, quality and production information. The available information will rarely be perfect; missing data should be identified and assigned for follow-up rather than guessed.
Practical steps
- Agree which assets and functions are within the assessment boundary.
- Define consequence categories and rating descriptions before scoring.
- Ask operations, maintenance and engineering to check the asset list and assumptions.
- Record the evidence and confidence behind the ranking, including unresolved questions.
A practical example
Before a criticality workshop, the team defines the compressed air system boundary and assembles an equipment list, process drawings and known dependencies. Operations explains the required air demand; maintenance brings failure and repair information. The group identifies gaps before scoring and records uncertain assumptions for follow up. Perfect history is not required to begin, but unsupported assumptions should not be presented as facts.
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