This paper makes use of the single channel event (SCE) index for managing sensor failures. The SCE index provides prior information how and if a sensor failure is detected in multivariate SPE and D control charts. Furthermore, the SCE index can be used as a diagnostic tool for multivariate monitoring schemes of industrial processes. These features of the SCE index attribute to improved abnormal situation management. The usage of the SCE index is demonstrated for the Tennessee Eastman continuous process. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.