<P> In a de minimis definition, severity of failures include the cost of spare parts, man - hours, logistics, damage (secondary failures), and downtime of machines which may cause production loss . A more complete definition of failure also can mean injury, dismemberment, and death of people within the system (witness mine accidents, industrial accidents, space shuttle failures) and the same to innocent bystanders (witness the citizenry of cities like Bhopal, Love Canal, Chernobyl, or Sendai, and other victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami)--in this case, reliability engineering becomes system safety . What is acceptable is determined by the managing authority or customers or the affected communities . Residual risk is the risk that is left over after all reliability activities have finished, and includes the un-identified risk--and is therefore not completely quantifiable . </P> <P> The complexity of the technical systems such as Improvements of Design and Materials, Planned Inspections, Fool - proof design, and Backup Redundancy decreases risk and increases the cost . The risk can be decreased to ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) or ALAPA (as low as practically achievable) levels . </P> <P> Implementing a reliability program is not simply a software purchase; it's not just a checklist of items that must be completed that will ensure you have reliable products and processes . A reliability program is a complex learning and knowledge - based system unique to your products and processes . It is supported by leadership, built on the skills that you develop within your team, integrated into your business processes and executed by following proven standard work practices . </P> <P> A reliability program plan is used to document exactly what "best practices" (tasks, methods, tools, analysis, and tests) are required for a particular (sub) system, as well as clarify customer requirements for reliability assessment . For large - scale complex systems, the reliability program plan should be a separate document . Resource determination for manpower and budgets for testing and other tasks is critical for a successful program . In general, the amount of work required for an effective program for complex systems is large . </P>

Which of the following is not an important element in the definition of reliability