The underlying concept of THESIS is the bowtie. This is a graphical display of the relationship between the various components that result from the Hazard and Effects Management Process (HEMP), which is fundamental to the effective control of hazards and risks identified in Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) cases. The HEMP process also underpins the data and information input requirements for bowties and THESIS. The principles behind HEMP are:

Bowties depict the relationship between Hazards, Threats, Barriers, Escalation Factors, Escalation Controls, Consequences, Recovery Measures and Critical Tasks, as illustrated in the figure below. The advantage of adopting the bowtie approach is that it is an extremely powerful representation of a hazard analysis and HEMP process and is readily understood at all levels in an organization.

THESIS—Past and Present

ABS Consulting develops THESIS and licenses the software to third-party businesses. ABS Consulting provides training, facilitation and consulting services to assist clients in adopting the concept. Find the latest development news and updates.

THESIS Overview

THESIS assists companies/operators in the analysis and management of the hazards and risks to which their business is exposed, graphically displaying the relationship between hazards, controls, risk reduction measures and business activities.

Threat and consequence information is defined for each hazard and displayed through bowties, as illustrated below:

An example BowTie diagram

What THESIS Provides

THESIS assists in the analysis and management of hazards and risks plus their controls by providing a tool which:

Documents the risk analysis in a systematic manner that makes the control of hazards easier for personnel to understand
Links the hazards, threats, consequences, and controls to safety critical activities and tasks via graphical interface thus making sure that the controls identified are linked to the company's processes and to individual's responsibilities
Provides reports (both standard format or fully customisable) which can form part of a Formal Safety Assessment, e.g. HSE/HSEIA Case, which can be used for communication to those personnel responsible for safety critical tasks
Provides an essential source of risk management information – a "corporate memory" – to prevent losses occurring or reoccurring
Documents all areas where shortfalls have been identified and corrective action is required, and assigns responsibilities through and integrated action tracking facility
Supports audits of management systems
Facilitates incident investigation - identification of root cause and derivation of subsequent improvement methods
Facilitates a continuous improvement process for risk management
Promotes visibility and awareness of hazards, risks and HSE Management
Facilitates management of change and demonstrates compliance

THESIS Architecture

Please see our technical papers under Downloads for further details.

For more information...

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Paul Cooke | thesis@absconsulting.com | Tel: +44 [0] 1925 287300

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