| dc.description.abstract | The use of the bowtie diagram has become widespread in the oil and gas industry as a communication and identification tool for hazardous events. The technique has proven to be very useful in the determination of safety critical equipment, when used in a simplistic manner. On the other hand, its complex applications extend towards developing and maintaining performance standards, procedures, etc. The bowtie technique is used to record barriers – both preventive and mitigative. But having recorded barriers, it is useful to be able to take a view on how effective these barriers are, and how well you are protected from the identified threats and potential consequences. There are several tools available in the industry to estimate this quantitatively. Just like the known quantitative risk techniques, these methods come with their own set of complexities. For assessing barrier effectiveness, is this complexity needed? This paper provides a qualitative methodology for estimating the effectiveness of barriers, which can be considered as a screening process that can both focus OPEX and identify areas where barriers may need to be reinforced or added to. The method accounts for a variety of factors such as safety measures being fail-safe, and the possibility of safety system overrides. One of the major benefits of the bowtie technique is to assist in the development of key performance indicator metrics. It gives an insight as to how well protected a facility is against accident events and supports operational managers in making risk based decisions, e.g. making choices on how to focus OPEX spend. With continued development of new sources for oil and gas production, the risk to surrounding public receptors has been a growing concern in the industry. Questions arise about how to best implement safeguards and position detectors, respond to emergencies, and better protect vulnerable areas, making a thorough understanding of risk key. | en |
