Bowtie risk management
What is a bowtie diagram?
A bowtie diagram is a diagrammatic representation of how a hazard is managed. At the centre of the diagram is the hazard of interest, as well as a top event (the release or realisation of the hazard). The threats which could lead to loss of control of the hazard are shown on the left hand side of the diagram, and the consequences of a loss of control shown on the right hand side. Prevention barriers, which protect against the threat, and mitigation barriers, which mitigate the consequences should the hazard be released/realised, are also shown on the diagram.
What can a bowtie include?
As well as the key elements (hazard, top event, threats, consequences and prevention and mitigation barriers), a bowtie diagram can also categorise and link barriers with information such as barrier type (e.g. hardware, human) Safety and Environmental Critical Element (SECE) category, associated Safety Critical Task(s), associated procedure, barrier effectiveness, barrier criticality, job role responsible for the barrier, and more.
What can a bowtie diagram be used for?
Bowties are commonly used in the oil, gas and chemical sectors, but can be applied to any process, facility or activity where a hazard is present and there is a need to identify and assess the barriers in place to prevent and mitigate the hazard.
What are the advantages of bowties?
Most risk assessments present a snapshot of the controls in place for a hazard at a particular moment in time. What is often missing is the link between the controls as they are today and the systems for ensuring they will continue to be effective tomorrow, and bowtie risk management can address this issue. The barrier-focused bowtie diagrams are easy to understand, encourage involvement and ownership, and enable the practical implementation of hazard management at the operational level, through responsibilities for hardware, procedural and competence systems.
What bowtie risk management services do Risktec provide?
Risktec consultants are world leaders in the use of bowtie analysis, and our bowtie services include:
- Developing bowties for HSSE or business risks
- Facilitating bowtie workshops
- Layer of protection analysis (LOPA)
- Identifying safety and environment-critical elements and competency requirements
- Developing bowtie information for hazard and risk awareness
- Bowtie based incident investigation and root cause analysis
- Bowtie based management control reviews
- Bowtie based auditing
- Training in bowtie analysis and software tools
We use the BowTieXP software tool to efficiently implement the complete bowtie methodology.
“The bowtie is readily understood at all levels in an organisation and creates ownership of the risk management process.”
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