Integrated Consultants for Health & Safety LLC
Integrated Consultants for Health & Safety LLC
Bow-Tie Analysis is a highly effective, schematic method for risk assessment and communication. It creates a simple, visual diagram that shows the pathways of a risk scenario, from its causes (threats) to its consequences. The "bow-tie" shape emerges around the central "knot," which represents the moment control over a hazard is lost (the Top Event).
As described in your request, Bow-Ties are a pictorial representation of the relationship between potential threats, the preventive and mitigative barriers in place, and the ultimate consequences associated with each Major Accident Hazard (MAH).
Potential causes
Barriers
Barriers
Outcomes
A key strength of the Bow-Tie method is its ability to not only show the barriers that protect your facility but also to analyze how those barriers could fail. It identifies potential Escalation Factors that could defeat a barrier, as well as the Escalation Factor Controls needed to keep those barriers healthy. This approach is invaluable in the oil and gas, chemical, mining, and manufacturing industries—all sectors with a strong presence in and around Kochi and across India.
Understanding a Bow-Tie is simple once you see its components. It provides a complete story of a risk on a single page.
The central point of the diagram. This is the hazardous event itself—the moment control is lost (e.g., "Loss of Containment of High-Pressure Gas").
Controlling the Threats:
Reducing the Consequences:
For each barrier, we identify conditions that could cause it to fail (Escalation Factors, e.g., "Gas Detector is Offline") and the specific controls to prevent this failure (Escalation Factor Controls, e.g., "Regular Maintenance and Proof Testing").
Bow-Tie analysis is a versatile tool used for:
To thoroughly analyze and manage the highest-risk scenarios identified in studies like HAZID or HAZOP.
To provide clear, demonstrable evidence that risks are being managed to a level that is As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).
To visually explain complex risks to all personnel, from senior leadership to frontline operators, ensuring everyone understands their role in maintaining barriers.
To map out how an incident occurred and which barriers failed, providing powerful lessons learned.
To conduct targeted audits on the health and effectiveness of critical safety barriers.
We facilitate a structured, workshop-based approach to develop robust and meaningful Bow-Tie diagrams.
We work with you to select the critical MAH and Top Events for analysis, often from the outputs of your existing risk assessments. We then assemble the correct multidisciplinary team.
Our expert facilitator guides your team to systematically identify all threats, consequences, and barriers, using the collective knowledge of the group.
We critically challenge each barrier to ensure it is effective, independent, and auditable. We then identify credible escalation factors and their controls.
Using industry-standard software (e.g., BowTieXP), we construct the diagrams. We then take it a step further by linking barriers to your Safety Management System (SMS), defining ownership, and identifying the critical tasks required to keep each barrier healthy.
We deliver the final Bow-Tie diagrams and a summary report. These become living documents for risk management, training, and continuous improvement.
Makes complex risk scenarios intuitive and easy to understand at a glance.
Effectively bridges the gap between technical engineering documents and the operational workforce.
Clearly highlights the most critical barriers that prevent major accidents, allowing you to focus resources where they are most needed.
Empowers all employees by showing them exactly how their actions (e.g., performing a maintenance task) are critical barriers that keep the facility safe.
Provides a clear, auditable demonstration that risks are understood and are being effectively controlled.
Our consultants are highly skilled in leading Bow-Tie workshops, ensuring a collaborative environment that produces a comprehensive and accurate risk picture.
Operating from Kochi, we have extensive experience with the specific Major Accident Hazards relevant to the Oil & Gas, chemical, port, and manufacturing facilities in Kerala and across India.
We don't just create diagrams; we create functional risk management tools. We help you integrate Bow-Ties into your existing Safety Management System to ensure they are used and maintained.
We utilize leading Bow-Tie software to deliver professional, clear, and interactive diagrams that can be easily updated as your facility evolves.
A HAZOP is a comprehensive, text-based brainstorming technique used to find potential hazards and operability problems throughout an entire process. A Bow-Tie is a graphical technique used to analyze and manage a single, known, high-consequence hazard in great detail. Often, the output of a HAZOP is the input for a Bow-Tie analysis.
Absolutely. Barriers in a Bow-Tie can be hardware (e.g., a relief valve), software (e.g., a trip), or human-based (e.g., an operator responding to an alarm, a permit-to-work system). The key is that the barrier must be effective, independent, and auditable.
Primarily, it is a qualitative method. However, it provides an excellent framework for quantitative analysis. Data from studies like LOPA or QRA can be overlaid onto the Bow-Tie diagram to show numerical risk levels, making it a powerful hybrid tool.
This is a critical point. We ensure Bow-Ties remain "live" by linking each barrier to a specific part of your Safety Management System. This involves assigning an owner to each barrier and identifying the critical tasks (e.g., inspection, testing, training) that prove the barrier is healthy and effective.
