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Risk and Decision Sciences

Garill Coles

Garill Coles

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PO Box 999
Richland, WA 99352

Biography

Mr Coles is Chief Engineer for Battelle Pacific Northwest Division with over 22 years experience in system engineering, safety analysis, probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), and system security activities. He has a wide range of experience using FMEA and other related failure and hazard analysis methods. He is an internationally recognized expert in PRA and has taught courses and workshops on PRA techniques and applications to a number of domestic and international clients. Recently he has been adapting techniques and methods learned in the nuclear industry for use in national security and patient safety applications. For the last three years he has worked with hospitals to improve the safety of high-risk health care processes.

Research Interests

  • Probabilistic Risk Assessment
  • Nuclear Safety Analysis and Licensing
  • Programmatic Risk Assessment
  • Risk Management
  • Risk Informed Security Cyber Security Analysis
  • Security Risk Assessment
  • Uncertainty Analysis
  • Safety Analysis
  • System Analysis
  • Hazards Analysis
  • Accident Analysis
  • Reliability, Maintainability and Unavailability Studies
  • Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
  • Root Cause Analysis
  • Patient Safety

Education and Credentials

  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Montana State University, 1981
  • Reactor Physics Certification, UNC United Nuclear Industries, 1983
  • Reactor Shift Technical Advisor Certification, UNC United Nuclear Industries, 1986

Awards and Recognitions

  • June 9, 2005, American Nuclear Society's Winter Meeting, Best Paper Award
  • July 13, 2005, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), Honorarium

Selected Publications

2008

  • Coles GA. 2008. "Prospective System Assessments Used to Enhance Patient Safety: Case Studies from a Collaboration of Engineers and Hospitals in Southwest Washington State." In Safety Engineering, Risk Analysis, and Reliability Methods: ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, November 11-15, 2007, Seattle, Washington, vol. 14, pp. 117-126.  ASME , New York, NY. 
  • Young J, SE Thompson, AJ Brothers, PD Whitney, GA Coles, CL Henderson, KE Wolf, and BL Hoopes. 2008. "The Use of Dynamic Stochastic Social Behavior Models to Produce Likelihood Functions for Risk Modeling of Proliferation and Terrorist Attacks ." In International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference: PSAM 9, May 18-23, 2008, Hong Kong, China, ed. TM Kao, E Zio, V Ho.  Edge Publication Group, Hong Kong, China. 

2007

  • Coles GA, and MD Zentner. 2007. "Application of the Decision Tree Modeling Approach to Evaluation of Proliferation Resistance." In 48th Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), p. 317.  Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, Tucson, AZ. 
  • Coles GA, and MD Zentner. 2007. "Application of the Event Tree/Fault Tree Modeling Approach to the Evaluation of Proliferation Resistance." In Safety Engineering, Risk Analysis, and Reliability Methods: international Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, vol. 14, pp. 139-148.  ASME , New York, NY. 

2006

  • Coles GA. 2006. "A Procedure for Using FMECA to Assess High-Risk Healthcare Processes (PSAM-0266)." In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management: PSAM 8, May12-18, 2006, New Orleans, Louisiana, ed. MG Stamatelatos and HS Blackman.  ASME Press, New York, NY. 

2005

  • Coles GA, B Fuller, K Nordquist, and A Kongslie. 2005. "Using Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis for High-Risk Processes at Three Community Hospitals." Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety 31(3):132-140. 
  • Zentner MD, GA Coles, and RJ Talbert. 2005. Nuclear Proliferation Technology Trends Analysis . PNNL-14480, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA. 

2004

  • Glantz CS, GA Coles, and RB Bass. 2004. "A Cyber Security Self-Assessment Method for Nuclear Power Plants." In Transactions of the American Nuclear Society , vol. 91, pp. 45-6.  American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, IL. 

2003

  • Glantz CS, RB Bass, JR Cash, GA Coles, AJ Currie, DJ Gower, JJ Heilman, MD Lammers, and JL Thomas. 2003. "A Cyber Security Self-Assessment Method for Critical Infrastructure Protection." In Proceedings of the 2003 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Nov 15-21 2003, Washington, DC. Engineering Technology Management - 2003: Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis, Technology and Society, Engineering Business Management, Homeland Security, pp. 195-198.  American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY. 

Risk and Decision Sciences

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