The Bow Tie of Safety: Why, How & What?
The purpose of SMS is to systematically identify, assess, and mitigate safety risks. In doing so, SMS incorporates several effective tools. One of them is the Bow Tie Analysis. But what is it? How does it work? And why is it important in relation to Safety Management?
The Bow Tie Analysis is the name of a risk assessment tool. It is a visual map that outlines and analyses potential hazards, their causes, and the associated risk controls.
Its name originates from its shape, but more importantly, Bow Tie Analyses help organisations understand and manage safety risks by offering a structured and clear method.
Read more: Safety Management: Examining the Four Pillars of SMS
WHY the Bow Tie Is Useful in SMS
Let’s start backwards to explain the importance and applicability of the Bow Tie Model.
In SMS, Bow Ties are used to understand, manage, and communicate complex safety risks, hazards, and solutions in an effective and visually simple way.
The Bow Tie offers a valuable safety framework by:
- Simplifying the cause-and-effect dynamics between hazards, threats, risks, and consequences.
- Highlighting weaknesses in current procedures and identifying gaps in preventive or mitigating initiatives.
- Encouraging a proactive approach to safety management
- Inspiring and enforcing continuous improvement
HOW Does the Bow Tie Model Work?
The Bow Tie essentially maps out potential threats (causes) and consequences (outcomes) around a Hazardous Event. The model outlines the threats at hand and preventive barriers to stop the event from happening (on the left) and the consequences and mitigative barriers to minimise the impact of the event if it does occur (on the right).
The Hazardous Event in the middle represents a critical moment for the organisation which has lost or might lose control over a hazard. This can potentially lead to an accident or incident.
Therefore, we must consider measures to prevent the hazards – or recover from the hazard if we cannot stop it from happening.
WHAT Is a Bow Tie?
Aside from being a decorative accessory or a strangely shaped pasta, the Bow Tie is essentially a risk assessment tool. The tool offers a clear and structured overview of safety risks – which helps organisations identity safety gaps, strengthen barriers to safety, and promote a proactive approach to SMS.
Essentially, Bow Ties help organisations analyse, control, and communicate safety risks in order to take proactive and mitigating measures which enhance overall safety and efficiency.
Are you using the Bow Tie Model in your Safety Management programme?
Read more: How To Overcome the Obstacles That Prevent Successful SMS Implementation
Employee Inputs Are Crucial to a Functioning SMS
How does your organisation identify, assess, and mitigate safety risks? Our guess is that you encourage your employees to report any safety-related issues or hazards. If that is the case, you have grasped the concept of SMS.
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