Incident Analysis Using Barrier Failure Analysis (BFA) Technique

BFA is a way to structure incidents and to categorize certain parts of an incident taxonomy. The structure consists of events, barriers and causation paths. Events are used to describe a causal sequence of events that we want to prevent from cascading. This means that each event causes the occurrence of a next event. There can also be parallel events that, combined, cause the next event to happen.

The barriers in a BFA are designed to stop a chain of events. They are not necessarily independent or sufficient, as would be the case in the bowtie risk analysis tool. Since a barrier failure is presumed in this technique, causation paths are determined to explain why the barriers did not perform according to function.

The causation consists of three steps, which are respectively called Primary, Secondary and Tertiary level. These labels can be customized. Each level in the causation path can additionally be categorized to your own fit. This allows you as the flexibility to create relevant, custom categories specific to your own organizational context.

Any organization should go through an initial period of testing and iterating these categories. At some point a steady state should emerge that will capture most incidents and provide relevant insights. Whenever diversions from this structure were to occur more often, it is possible to keep this learning process alive and reconsider the initial categorization.

This 2-day course is designed for participants to learn how to build a timeline of events leading to incidents, then use the BFA technique to analyze the barrier states at the time of the incident.  

The course is highly interactive, switching regularly between input sessions using a presentation style and group work where participants will be involved in a variety of different activities (discussing, analyzing, applying, comparing, categorizing, etc.).

The course also aims to equip participants with the skills to analyze failed barriers, and to employ IncidentXP software as a platform on which to practice these skills.  The software will be provided to each user to install on his/her own laptop, on a 30-day free trial basis.  

Bowtie diagrams will be introduced, and participants are to be introduced to the technique of linking incidents to proactive risk models, in order to improve understanding of the management of risks through learning from past incidents.