Bowtie Analysis and Risk Matrix: Application To Equipment Health and Worker Safety

Not knowing what you do not know can be very dangerous for an organization. With unfortunate events that led to injuries at competitor’s facilities, Skeena Bioenergy activated a safety review of all equipment using bowtie analysis and a risk matrix. Bowtie analysis identifies causes and preventative action to stop a defined event from occurring. Then, looks at loss prevention actions to prevent disastrous consequences that stem for the described event. The risk matrix is a chart that has frequency of occurrence on the vertical plain and the consequence of severity on the horizontal plane. When combined, gives a risk level number, colour coded, that identifies levels of acceptable and unacceptable risk. This application was successful in identifying that the design of the Cooler, one part of the process, does prevent fires and explosions. Further fire control measures identified will be added; 1. to improve containment of a fire so it remains in the Cooler and 2. to prevent a fire event from cascading into an explosion. These continuous improvements in the Cooler reduce the risk level to 3, Skeena Bioenergy’s acceptable level of risk. This abstract demonstrates the application and findings of applying bowtie analysis and a risk matrix to a piece of equipment, the basis of good risk management.