The authors provide a handbook that serves as the core tool for understanding and implementing the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) process. Written for use as a training and project tool, the handbook contains chapters that introduce the concept of FMEA and its history as a process safety tool in the aerospace and automotive industries. FMEA provided a standard language that allowed the tool to be used by technical and administrative employees at all levels to learn about opportunities for failure during the course of the work they do. The ten steps of a FMEA, case studies where they have been used, and a discussion of where and when to use FMEAs provide practical information for a variety of audiences interested in proactive risk assessment.