Part of the book: Risk Management
We manage risk so commonly (and unconsciously) in our everyday life that we tend to undervalue it. Risk management was officially introduced in the pharmaceutical world by the ICH guideline Q9 in 2005. Since then, it has been intensively used and, not infrequently, misused. Practice shows that risk assessment tools are often seen as an end in themselves, while such important things as brainstorming on the matter and getting to know the problem are underestimated. A pharmaceutical project provides a very good example of this: risk management is critical, but as there are many unknown factors, it has to be performed in a way that what really counts is understanding the problems we face. A pharmaceutical project has at least two actors, a pharmaceutical firm and an engineering company, possessing different backgrounds, and this often leads to different approaches. This may explain why risk management is not used as much as it should in pharmaceutical projects. Thus, this chapter considers a pharmaceutical project from the point of view of risk management.
Part of the book: Perspectives on Risk, Assessment and Management Paradigms
Any production plant can be affected by a disaster. Emergency management plans are the best ally to overcome disasters in an adequate way. The present COVID-19 public health emergency can be assimilated to a disaster because of its effects on production and, thus, it requires a contingency plan too. The purpose of this study is to develop a model of contingency plan based on Risk Management (RM) concepts. The methods and analysis used in this development are based on those proposed in international pharmaceutical guidelines. The author, a consultant of the pharmaceutical industry, uses RM tools to provide a practical roadmap to detect problems and implement consistent palliative solutions in any type of manufacturing plant.
Part of the book: Risk Management