Bow-Tie Risk Analysis and Barrier Management

Overview

Major accident hazards are controlled by barriers: physical systems, procedures and people that prevent a release or limit its consequences. The bow-tie method shows these barriers on a single picture, linking threats, the top event and consequences, which makes it one of the clearest ways to explain and manage major risks across engineering, operations and management. But a bow-tie is only useful if the barriers it shows are real, effective and maintained. This course teaches participants how to build accurate bow-ties and then use them for barrier management. Topics include hazard identification, defining top events, selecting threats and consequences, distinguishing barriers from degradation factors, assessing barrier effectiveness and assigning owners. The second half of the course links bow-ties to performance standards, verification, safety-critical elements, incident investigation and the daily decisions made in operations.

Objectives

• Explain the bow-tie model and its role in major accident risk management
• Define hazards, top events, threats and consequences correctly
• Identify valid barriers and distinguish them from degradation factors
• Assess barrier effectiveness and independence
• Link barriers to safety-critical elements and performance standards
• Use bow-ties for barrier health monitoring and incident analysis

Who should attend

Training methodology

Participants build complete bow-ties in teams for typical scenarios such as loss of containment from a hydrocarbon vessel and a well blowout, using structured facilitation steps. Common errors are shown through examples of poor bow-ties that participants must correct. Barrier effectiveness is then rated and linked to maintenance and inspection data. A major accident case is analysed using the bow-tie to show which barriers failed and why. Teams present and challenge each other's work throughout.

Programme outline

Dates and fees

Certificate

Frequently asked questions