Modern day thinking on risk management puts heavy emphasis on the use of defences or barriers to prevent losses attributed to organizational disturbances. Failure of these barriers leads to unwanted incidents. Barrier management is therefore an important facet of risk management. The former involves establishing and maintaining barriers so that the risk faced at any given time can be handled by preventing an undesirable incident from occurring or by limiting the consequences should such an incident occur. Effective barrier management requires the adequate deployment of people, equipment/facilities and systems.

The Bowtie technique is ideally suited for this purpose, allowing detailed analysis of prevention and mitigation measures – in other words, the barriers – for specific hazards and their ultimate consequences. Additionally, the visual format used in the Bowtie diagrams facilitates risk communication.

The Bowtie technique is currently widely used in such diverse sectors as oil and gas, chemical process, power generation, mining, aviation/aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing, IT security, finance and government. This one-day course is aimed at senior management who are responsible/accountable for barrier management, highlighting the key principles of the Hazards and Effects Management Process (HEMP) and how the Bowtie technique
can augment risk management in their organizations, at the same time facilitating effective risk communication. Participants will be required to undertake a number of worked exercises in order to gain practical experience with the use of Bowties.

Learning Objectives

This course is designed to help participants to:

• Achieve an understanding of the key principles of the Hazards & Effects Management Process (HEMP) and the Bowtie Methodology
• Read, understand and make improvements on Bowtie diagrams in relation to their use in the management of hazards and risks associated with the client’s operations, activities and facilities;