European Master and Certification Program
in Risk Engineering and Management

IXa-R28: RBICon
API RBI Concepts in Industry

Course code: 161330
Language of instruction: English
Lecturers: Dr. Hari Prasad Muruva (Steinbeis Advanced Risk Technologies), MSc Branislav Orlić (NIS Petroleum Industry of Serbia), Dr. Gopika Vinod (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre), Prof. Dr. Petar Stanojević (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Security Studies)
Assessment: Defined in the module

Short description

The focus of the course is set on the standard of American Petroleum Institute API 581 (API RECOMMENDED PRACTICE 581:2008 Risk-Based Inspection Technology) and its application in petrochemical industry. The course elaborates the basic concepts of API 581 and explains the principles of Risk Based Inspection. This methodology encompasses techniques such as Probability of failure, Consequence of failure, Risk analysis and Inspection planning based on Risk Analysis.

Objectives

This course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts of Risk Based Inspection (RBI) and it focuses on API RBI methodology. The main topics cover explanations of main elements of the methodology:

  • Probability of Failure,
  • Consequences of Failure,
  • Risk Analysis
  • Inspection Planning Based on Risk Analysis.

The course may be considered as a basis for further understanding API 581 methodology and its reliance on damage mechanisms (API 571) and fitness for service concepts (API 579). 


Target Attendees / Participants

The course is dedicated to:

  • professionals (engineers, managers, inspectors, legislators, …) who wish to deepen their knowledge in the field of risk based inspection
  • other professionals dealing with risk and safety in industry
  • individuals with no previous experience in the field of risk based inspection, but willing to extend their knowledge and take up new roles in this field within their companies
  • university students of Steinbeis European Master Program in Risk Engineering and Management, and similar programs.

Course Content by Units

The course will cover the following units:

 
Unit 1: Probability of Failure
Unit 2: Consequence of Failure
Unit 3: Risk Analysis 
Unit 4: Inspection Planning Based on Risk Analysis
Unit 5: Review of main course issues and preparation for the final exam
  

Unit 1:

Probability of Failure

  • Overview
  • Generic Failure Frequency

Unit 2:

Consequence of Failure

  • Overview
  • Level 1 Consequence Analysis
  • Level 2 Consequence Analysis

Unit 3

Risk Analysis

  • Determination of Risk
  • Risk Matrix

Unit 4:

Inspection Planning Based on Risk Analysis

  • Overview
  • Risk Target
  • Inspection Effectiveness – The Value of Inspection
  • Inspection Effectiveness – Example
  • Inspection Planning

Unit 5:

Review of main course issues and preparation for the final exam

Unit 6:

Final exam

Teaching Methods

This  course

  • consists of ex-cathedra lecturing illustrated by number of examples
  • provides exercises for home work and
  • preparation for the final exam.

Literature

  1. Lecture Notes API RBI Concepts in Industry, version of September 11, 2012
  2. Transparencies, version of September 12, 2012
  3. API RECOMMENDED PRACTICE 581:2008 Risk-Based Inspection Technology
  4. GUIDELINES FOR Chemical Process Quantitative Risk Analysis, CCPS (2000)
For more information about the European Master and Certification Program in Risk Engineering and Management in general, go the Homepage.
For more information about the European Master Program in Risk Engineering and Management in general, go the Master Study page.
To see more courses in the curriculum, go to The curriculum page, or by date and topic go to the Calendar of Courses page.
Contact: via email sti889@risk-technologies.com or phone +49 711 1839 781 or +49 711 1839 647
(Course profile ID: IXa-R28:, generated on October 31, 2025)