See how harm happens.
Then stop it.
Bowtie analysis maps how a hazard can be released, what harm follows, and which controls stand in the way. This course teaches the method step by step, with narrated animations, hands-on exercises, and a final assessment.
Free for industry. Created by Phil McKenzie, bowtie analysis consultant and trainer.
One picture of a whole accident scenario
A bowtie is a cause-and-effect model with a knot in the middle. The knot is the top event: the moment control over a hazard is lost. Everything to the left is about stopping that moment; everything to the right is about limiting the harm if it happens anyway.
Prevention
Causes are the direct means by which the hazard is released. Cause controls eliminate, prevent, or detect them before the top event.
Loss of control
The hazard is a source of harm that is part of normal business. The top event is the first moment that control over it is lost.
Recovery
Outcomes are the harmful events that follow. Outcome controls detect, reduce, and mitigate them, protecting the targets.
Anatomy of a bowtie
Select any part of the diagram to see what it is, what it is sometimes called, and the mistake people most often make with it.
Eight steps, two phases
Bowtie analysis is semi-linear, segmented, and iterative. First you model the process of injury, loss, and damage. Then you analyse the controls that disrupt it.
Simple to read, demanding to build
Beware the deception of simplicity
A bowtie looks like something anyone could sketch in five minutes. A useful one takes disciplined language, a clear method, and a good understanding of how accidents actually unfold. That is what this course is for.
Where bowtie fits
Bowtie analysis is a risk analysis technique that excels at risk communication. It is not a hazard identification method, and it is not always the right tool.
Fifteen lessons, one method
Phil McKenzie
Phil built BowTie Academy as a free learning resource for industry, following the bowtie analysis method he has taught for twenty years. There is no fee, no account, and nothing to install. Use it as pre-reading for a facilitated course, as a refresher, or as a reference during a workshop.
Phil has consulted and trained in bowtie analysis for oil and gas operators and contractors, regulators, and aviation organisations, in Australia and overseas. He holds a Master of Risk Management from Swinburne University, where he was named top graduate for a thesis on variance in qualitative bowtie risk analysis. CGE Risk Management, the developer of BowTieXP, has given him a Lifetime Achievement Award for barrier-based risk management.