Bow-Tie Analysis and Barrier Management

A bow-tie makes a major-accident scenario visible in a way a HAZOP worksheet never will: the threats on the left, the top event in the middle, the consequences on the right and, on every line, the barriers that must work. The course covers building bow-ties to the CCPS/EI method, deciding what qualifies as a barrier, assigning ownership and performance standards, and using the diagrams for barrier-status reporting, incident review and communicating with the workforce. Participants build four bow-ties for their own major-accident hazards.

• Define top events and threats at the right level of abstraction
• Distinguish barriers from degradation factors and safeguards that are not barriers
• Apply barrier criteria: effective, independent, auditable
• Assign barrier owners, performance standards and verification activities
• Link bow-ties to HAZOP, LOPA, SCE lists and the incident-investigation process
• Use bow-ties for barrier-status reporting and workforce engagement