PurposeInspection and maintenance of plant and machinery has traditionally been based on prescriptive industry practices. However, increased experience and a greater understanding of operational hazards is leading sections of industry to take a more informed approach to planning inspection and maintenance, targeting resources to reduce the risk to as low as reasonably practicable. The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to asset management to minimize risks in the most cost effective way.Design/methodology/approachThe approach shown optimizes run‐repair‐replace decision‐making in the integrity management of assets with the ultimate aim of maximising the impact of money spent on risk mitigation actions. The risk‐based approach, as opposed to the more conventional approaches, assesses failure in its wider context by considering not just the likelihood of failure, but also the consequences should the failure event occur.FindingsThe risk‐based methodology presents a cost‐effective way to minimise life cycle costs in the management of assets whilst maintaining reliability or availability targets, and operating within safety and environmental regulation.Practical implicationsIn this paper, for demonstration, a wind turbine system consisting of a number of components including structural components is used. However, the methodology can be extended to any system in which components can be analyzed to provide the required inputs to the risk model.Originality/valueAt a time when competitive pressures force asset managers to prioritize their maintenance, the risk‐based methodology presented here is a rational, efficient and somewhat flexible way to asset integrity management.