Which risk assessment technique best fits a bow-tie diagram description?

Which risk assessment technique best fits a bow-tie diagram description?

• A. Fault tree analysis
• B. Bow-tie analysis
• C. HAZOP
• D. What-if analysis

Answer: (B)

Understanding risk diagrams that center a hazard and its top event helps you see how risk is managed in practice. A bow-tie diagram shows the left side tracing how the top event could occur (the threats), the center top event itself, and the right side showing potential consequences, with barriers positioned on both sides to prevent the event or reduce its impact. This layout and purpose align with bow-tie analysis, which uses the diagram to map threats, preventive barriers, consequences, and mitigative barriers in one clear picture. It also folds in ideas from fault tree analysis (causal paths to the top event) and event tree thinking (consequences and barrier performance), but its defining feature is the bow-tie diagram structure itself. The other methods focus more narrowly: fault tree analysis analyzes how a fault leads to a top event using logic gates; HAZOP examines possible deviations from design intent in process conditions; what-if analysis uses brainstorming to surface potential issues without the explicit barrier-and-consequence mapping of a bow-tie.

Understanding risk diagrams that center a hazard and its top event helps you see how risk is managed in practice. A bow-tie diagram shows the left side tracing how the top event could occur (the threats), the center top event itself, and the right side showing potential consequences, with barriers positioned on both sides to prevent the event or reduce its impact. This layout and purpose align with bow-tie analysis, which uses the diagram to map threats, preventive barriers, consequences, and mitigative barriers in one clear picture. It also folds in ideas from fault tree analysis (causal paths to the top event) and event tree thinking (consequences and barrier performance), but its defining feature is the bow-tie diagram structure itself. The other methods focus more narrowly: fault tree analysis analyzes how a fault leads to a top event using logic gates; HAZOP examines possible deviations from design intent in process conditions; what-if analysis uses brainstorming to surface potential issues without the explicit barrier-and-consequence mapping of a bow-tie.