Method presentation
Bow tie: a risk quantification method

The bow-tie concept was introduced by ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries). Following the Piper Alfa oil rig accident, Royal Dutch/Shell developed this analysis technique in the early 1990s to improve safety on such installations. Today, the use of the bow-tie method is tending to become more widespread, and its application to the industrial sector is becoming more and more widespread. The European research program ARAMIS (Accidental Risk Assessment Methodology for Industries in the framework of Seveso II directive) on risk assessment in the context of the Seveso II directive highlights the advantages of this method. As a reminder, the aim of this program was to :

• the development of a more precise and harmonized risk analysis...