Bowtie HSE Risk Management and Barrier Assurance Training Course

Course overview

Major incident investigations repeatedly show that controls existed on paper but were ineffective, bypassed, degraded, poorly maintained or never verified. HSE professionals need a disciplined way to connect credible hazards and top events with preventive and mitigative barriers, define who owns those barriers, and test whether they work in operational conditions. This Bowtie HSE Risk Management and Barrier Assurance Training Course equips participants to turn risk-register statements into visual, auditable control strategies that support operational decisions, assurance planning and management review.

Participants learn to build and challenge bowtie diagrams using the Bowtie method: defining hazards, top events, threats, consequences, barriers, escalation factors and escalation-factor controls. The course addresses barrier quality, critical control identification, performance standards, verification activities and assurance evidence. Participants practise translating HAZID, HAZOP, incident, audit and task-risk-assessment data into bowtie elements; distinguishing controls from activities and consequences; assigning barrier owners; and developing practical barrier assurance plans aligned with ISO 31000 and ISO 45001 requirements.

Delivery combines instructor-led explanation, facilitated diagram reviews, worked industrial cases and hands-on modelling in BowTieXP. Each participant develops a bowtie and barrier assurance package for a selected operational scenario, such as loss of containment, confined-space entry, vehicle-pedestrian interaction or permit-to-work failure. The completed package includes a validated bowtie diagram, critical-control list, barrier performance standards, escalation-factor register, verification schedule and implementation action plan that can be adapted for use in their organisation.

The course is designed for experienced HSE and operational personnel who contribute to major-hazard control, process safety, assurance, audit or operational-risk decisions. It is particularly valuable where leaders need clearer evidence that critical controls are present, functional and independently verified.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Construct a BowtieXP diagram linking hazards, top events, threats, consequences and recovery measures
• Differentiate preventive barriers, mitigative barriers, controls, activities and administrative checks
• Identify critical controls using consequence severity, barrier dependency and control-effectiveness criteria
• Define barrier performance standards with functionality, availability, reliability and survivability requirements
• Map escalation factors and escalation-factor controls that can degrade barrier performance
• Create a barrier assurance plan with verification questions, frequencies, evidence sources and accountable owners
• Test bowtie quality through structured challenge sessions and scenario-based barrier failure analysis
• Produce an implementation-ready bowtie and critical-control action plan for a workplace risk scenario

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• HSE Managers — who need a defensible method for connecting risk controls to assurance activity
• Process Safety Engineers — who manage major-accident hazards and critical control performance
• Operational Risk Managers — who must convert enterprise risk statements into field-verifiable controls
• HSE Advisers — who develop risk assessments, audit programmes and incident follow-up actions
• Operations and Maintenance Supervisors — who own frontline controls and need practical verification routines
• Internal Auditors — who assess whether safety and environmental controls are designed and operating effectively

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with workplace risk assessment and be able to discuss hazards, controls, consequences, likelihood and risk-rating concepts in an HSE or operational setting. Experience with HAZID, HAZOP, permit-to-work, incident investigation, audits or safety management systems is useful, but not essential. Participants should bring a laptop if attending live online or if they wish to model their own case in BowTieXP during class. Prior BowtieXP experience, programming skills, mathematical risk modelling and specialist process-safety qualifications are not required. This is an intermediate course because it assumes participants can interpret an existing risk assessment.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses short instructor-led inputs followed by progressive BowTieXP modelling exercises. Participants analyse realistic cases involving loss of containment, contractor interface failures, mobile equipment and permit-to-work breakdowns, then defend their barrier choices in facilitated peer reviews. Small groups convert source material from risk registers, incident findings and audit observations into bowties, performance standards and verification plans. Each day closes with an applied task that builds toward an individual workplace package. On day five, participants present their implementation plan and receive structured feedback on technical quality and organisational practicality.

Course outline

Day 1: Bowtie foundations and risk scenario definition

• Bowtie method purpose within HSE risk management
• Hazard, top event and consequence terminology
• Threat pathways and preventive barrier logic
• Recovery measures and mitigative barrier logic
• Bowtie scope boundaries and scenario statements
• Using risk registers, HAZID outputs and incident data
• BowTieXP interface, diagram conventions and data fields

Workshop: Participants model a defined loss-of-containment scenario in BowTieXP and produce a first-pass hazard-to-consequence bowtie.

Day 2: Barrier quality and critical controls

• Barrier versus control activity distinction
• The hierarchy of controls in bowtie design
• Independent barrier and barrier dependency testing
• Preventive and mitigative barrier effectiveness criteria
• Critical control selection for major HSE risks
• Barrier ownership and accountable operational roles
• Common bowtie modelling errors and quality checks

Workshop: Participants review a flawed bowtie, identify non-barriers and dependent controls, and produce a revised critical-control register.

Day 3: Escalation factors and barrier performance standards

• Escalation factors that degrade barrier performance
• Escalation-factor controls and their placement
• Barrier functionality and operating limits
• Availability, reliability and survivability requirements
• Writing measurable barrier performance standards
• Linking maintenance, competence and procedures to barriers
• Performance standard evidence and document references

Workshop: Participants develop escalation-factor pathways and write performance standards for three selected critical controls.

Day 4: Barrier assurance and verification design

• Barrier assurance model and lines of defence
• Verification questions for critical controls
• Inspection, testing and audit frequency selection
• Evidence sources, sampling and record retention
• Barrier health indicators and control-status reporting
• Assurance roles, escalation thresholds and action tracking
• Using BowTieXP outputs in audits and management review

Workshop: Participants create a barrier assurance plan with verification questions, evidence requirements, frequencies and responsible owners.

Day 5: Application, challenge and implementation

• Bowtie challenge workshop facilitation techniques
• Integrating incident learning into bowtie updates
• Management-of-change triggers for barrier review
• Aligning bowties with ISO 31000 risk treatment
• Aligning barrier assurance with ISO 45001 controls
• Communicating critical controls to frontline teams
• Implementation roadmap and governance cadence

Workshop: Participants present their completed bowtie and assurance package, receive peer challenge feedback, and produce a 90-day implementation plan.

Tools & standards covered

BowTieXP, ISO 31000:2018, ISO 45001:2018, IOGP Report 544

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions