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Health, Safety and Security

Bow Tie Risk Analysis and Barrier Management

A bow tie shows a hazard, the event that releases it, and every barrier standing between the two, which makes it the one risk method a workforce can read without training and the reason it has spread across major hazard industry. This course covers building them properly. Delegates work through hazard and top event definition, which is where most bow ties go wrong by starting with a consequence, threats and the barriers that prevent each, and consequences with the barriers that mitigate. Barrier quality is covered honestly: whether a barrier is effective, independent and auditable, since a diagram full of weak barriers looks reassuring. Escalation factors and their controls follow. The course closes on using bow ties operationally, and on the barrier owner who must maintain each one.

3 day courseRegister NowRequest Proposal

Course objectives

  • Define a hazard and top event correctly rather than starting from consequence
  • Identify threats and the preventive barriers against each
  • Identify consequences and the mitigating barriers
  • Assess whether a barrier is effective, independent and auditable
  • Identify escalation factors and the controls that address them
  • Assign barrier ownership and maintenance responsibility
  • Use bow ties operationally rather than as a one off study

Who should attend

  • Process safety and HSE practitioners
  • Operations and maintenance supervisors on major hazard sites
  • Risk managers and analysts
  • Engineers participating in hazard studies
  • Regulators reviewing barrier based safety arguments

Course outline

  1. 01A diagram the workforce can read
  2. 02Hazard and top event definition
  3. 03Threats and preventive barriers
  4. 04Consequences and mitigating barriers
  5. 05Barrier quality: effective, independent, auditable
  6. 06Escalation factors and their controls
  7. 07Barrier ownership and maintenance
  8. 08Operational use and keeping bow ties current

Scheduled sessions

Scheduled sessions for Bow Tie Risk Analysis and Barrier Management
DatesVenueFormatPriceRegister
21 to 23 September 2026OnlineOnlineR6,500 per delegateRegister Now
13 to 15 January 2027Gaborone, BotswanaClassroomR14,950 per delegateRegister Now
25 to 27 January 2027Addis Ababa, EthiopiaClassroomUSD 995 per delegateRegister Now

Bow Tie Risk Analysis and Barrier Management

From R6,500

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