Every organization faces a significant challenge of risks. But what helps in combating those is understanding  them. This is when bow tie analysis comes into the picture. A “bowtie” diagram is a single, easily understood graphic representing the risk you are dealing with. The ability to see several realistic possibilities in one image is what makes a bow tie diagram so powerful. To put it briefly, it offers a clear and concise illustration of a risk that would be more challenging to communicate in any other way.

The Bow Tie Process:

Bow tie analysis is a risk management tool that helps assessing risks and working towards making the organization resilient from its origins to its effects. It makes understanding the connections between the risk event or cause (Root cause) and its effects more uncomplicated. Finding the reasons for the risk can help prevent it from happening and provide answers (corrective activities) if it does.

The event’s causes are then shown on the left side of the picture, offering either an opportunity or a threat in regards to the goal. The repercussions, or the aftereffects of the top event, are shown on the other side of the diagram.

Organizations will have a summary of the dangers and their effects once they have considered everything mentioned above. When the risks are manageable, and they are confident they won’t  negatively impact the goal, with the help of the required barriers. The barriers represent the activities done to either encourage or prevent the event’s occurrence and to lessen or increase its effects.

Building Resilience with Bow Tie Analysis:

Achieving resilience in business is challenging and can be achieved only if specific parameters are fulfilled. Bow tie analysis helps immensely in building and achieving resilience.this regard. Here’s how:

Creating a common risk language:

Maintaining consistent language while discussing a problem is beneficial when resolving it. A clear language is maintained across all communications, which helps in proper transfer of information.

A crucial step in risk management is effectively disseminating information on risks, hazards, and controls.

Bow ties allow businesses to establish a uniform language for risk communication inside the company. Everyone can access the exact visual depiction of risks and barriers, irrespective of their department, workgroup, or business process.

Combining information from all divisions:

A bow tie analysis’s capacity to illustrate several impact layers and their interactions with one another is among its most advantageous features. This analysis can be conducted more broadly to produce more data if you use the appropriate risk analysis tool.

Evaluating and observing your barriers’ condition is one of the main advantages of this method. Weak barriers cause hazards to manifest as occurrences. Nonetheless, you need information from other departments, such as operations, maintenance, engineering, HR, legal, etc., to assess the state of barriers from multiple departments to unite and bring one uniform solution with the help of bow-tie analysis.

On bowtie diagrams, this generates an exact and current status of the condition of your barriers. It also aids in tracking the development or maturity of your compliance goals.

Assisting employees in gathering incident information:

Following an incident, getting necessary information from people who were present and saw what happened is imperative. However, knowledge is rapidly forgotten by people. In  such cases, you need to gather information from witnesses to the incident in an organized manner as soon as possible.

Using the bow tie analysis, you can assist staff members in documenting incident information. Users can be knowledgeable about barrier-based incident analysis or bowties. They merely answer questions regarding particular obstacles and whether they were effective as planned. Examining the occurrence to identify its underlying causes, heavily depends on this crucial information.

Enhancements to the Organization:

Bow ties can point out locations. Bowties focus on inadequate organizational control, allowing proactive, long-term risk-reduction measures to be implemented in these areas. Another way to ensure vital controls don’t “fall through the cracks” following a corporate reorganization is to employ bow ties. In investigating incidents, bow ties can be utilized to pinpoint organizational flaws that make risk controls ineffective.

Processes and proficiency:

A  completed  bow tie analysis includes a list of crucial actions taken to ensure the continuous integrity of risk controls. The tasks can be utilized to confirm that a business’s competence assurance system is adequate; each role’s defined competencies should be in line with the bowtie controls.

Systematic Risk Management:

Bow tie diagram activities are structured on a barrier-based risk management strategy to control barriers and ensure their functioning. These activities are linked to specific challenges and reflect everyday tasks like training and maintenance. These challenges are associated with activities that can be considered for specific tasks elaborated by safety management systems and form part of the management systems.

Conclusion:

Finally, the use of bow tie analysis is not only a way to manage risks; it’s a major opportunity for becoming a resilient organization with well-coordinated work structure at all levels. Therefore, organizations can increase readiness through the development of a common risk language, integration of information from different departments and support in incident documentation.

Bow tie analysis is a sheath weapon in risk and resilience, which has become an essential tool for all enterprises striving to achieve operational efficiencies.