CAMO Safety Management Systems & Visual Representation.
We have seen across prior posts some considerations for risk identification, evaluation and management regarding risk value.
One of the most important aspects of any SMS (Safety Management System) is the ability to use the data and create meaningful information that helps keep is operating in the safe zone between productivity and financial costs.
While there are many; an example of a methodology that you could use is one called the Bow Tie; so called as its structure mirrors a bow tie when displayed.
You consider your ultimate risk – this is the centre of the bow tie and then you look at the threats and consequences that can occur as a result, these feed into and out of the ultimate risk in the centre.
The next step then is you would note all the barriers or mitigation that you have in place to stop the threats & consequences occurring; these can be barriers such as Audits, procedures, training or oversight for example. These barriers and mitigations you then determine if they are for prevention or recovery (before or after the event). The barriers and mitigations can then be entered into the BowTie in between the threats and ultimate risk or the consequence and ultimate risk.
Now, when you get a report of an occurrence or near miss event; you can risk assess it as you would normally do; then assign a score to each of the barriers or mitigations that failed to stop the threat.
It allows a visual method to track your reports and see very quickly where and your weakest links are and where you need to focus attention from a high-level viewpoint.
There are many different options available to customise a bowtie and make it more relevant to your organisation and this is a very brief overview of the process; but such methodologies are a powerful tool in utilising your SMS data in an effective way to create a safer and managed environment.
Follow us to learn more and why not take a look at our course https://ialta.aero/aviation-courses/risk-safety-management to learn more.