Free Bowtie Diagram Maker — Map Risk Controls

See it work

Bowtie diagram examples.

Same tool, four requests. Every drawing below is a real render.

What you type

A chemical-release bowtie: the hazard is corrosive chemical stored in a tank and the top event is loss of containment. Show corrosion, transfer overfill and hose failure as threats, with compatibility, inspection, alarms, shutdown, hose checks and dry-break couplings as barriers. Show worker exposure, environmental release and plant shutdown with eyewash, medical response, containment, spill response, isolation and recovery barriers.

Then tryAdd a hose failure threatAdd a drain isolation barrier

Bowtie risk diagram · CCPS / Energy Institute 2018 · schematex-bowtie

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The drawing

What a bowtie diagram is.

A bowtie diagram is a barrier-based risk model. It starts with one hazard and one top event, then connects threats to preventative barriers on the left and consequences to recovery barriers on the right.

It helps a team distinguish stopping a loss of control from limiting harm after it happens. A bowtie is qualitative: it supports a structured conversation but does not calculate risk probabilities.

Standard: CCPS / Energy Institute 2018
Also follows: IEC 31010:2019 §B.4.6 · ICAO Doc 9859 · Swiss-cheese lineage (Reason 1990)
Engine: schematex-bowtie
Editable: Double-click text, drag nodes
Export: SVG · PNG · PDF

Bowtie risk diagram: What a bowtie diagram is

Who uses it

Who uses bowtie diagrams.

Process-safety teams

Loss-of-containment scenarios with integrity, transfer and emergency controls.

Information-security teams

Identity and application threats mapped alongside detection and response controls.

Construction and food-safety teams

Practical controls discussed before work starts or a meal is served.

How it works

How to make a bowtie diagram in three steps.

Describe it

One paragraph is enough to start.

“A chemical-release bowtie: the hazard is corrosive chemical stored in a tank and the top event is loss of containment. Show corrosion, transfer overfill and hose failure as threats, with compatibility, inspection, alarms, shutdown, hose checks and dry-break couplings as barriers. Show worker exposure, environmental release and plant shutdown with eyewash, medical response, containment, spill response, isolation and recovery barriers.”