Which risk assessment technique explicitly links causes to preventive controls and consequences to mitigating factors in a bow-tie diagram?

Which risk assessment technique explicitly links causes to preventive controls and consequences to mitigating factors in a bow-tie diagram?

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

Answer: (C)

Bow-tie analysis explicitly links causes to preventive controls and consequences to mitigating factors within a single diagram. In this approach, the left side shows threats and causes that could lead to a central hazard or loss event, and the preventive controls that prevent those threats from materializing. The right side shows the possible consequences if the event occurs and the mitigating controls that limit or manage those consequences. The central knot represents the event itself, making the connections between initiating factors and protective measures clear and actionable. This structure directly conveys how prevention and mitigation work together to reduce risk. Fault tree analysis maps how causes combine to produce a top event but doesn’t focus on linking those causes to specific preventive actions in a single, balanced diagram. HAZOP studies deviations and safeguards within a process, but it isn’t organized around the explicit cause-to-preventive-control and consequence-to-mmitigating-control links that a bow-tie diagram provides. What-if analysis is a brainstorming method that explores possible scenarios without the formal, diagrammatic linkages between causes, controls, and consequences.

Bow-tie analysis explicitly links causes to preventive controls and consequences to mitigating factors within a single diagram. In this approach, the left side shows threats and causes that could lead to a central hazard or loss event, and the preventive controls that prevent those threats from materializing. The right side shows the possible consequences if the event occurs and the mitigating controls that limit or manage those consequences. The central knot represents the event itself, making the connections between initiating factors and protective measures clear and actionable. This structure directly conveys how prevention and mitigation work together to reduce risk.

Fault tree analysis maps how causes combine to produce a top event but doesn’t focus on linking those causes to specific preventive actions in a single, balanced diagram. HAZOP studies deviations and safeguards within a process, but it isn’t organized around the explicit cause-to-preventive-control and consequence-to-mmitigating-control links that a bow-tie diagram provides. What-if analysis is a brainstorming method that explores possible scenarios without the formal, diagrammatic linkages between causes, controls, and consequences.