ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Many Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are obliged to adopt a Safety Management System (SMS) by the Directive 2012/18/EU for the control of major accident hazards (Seveso III). The difficulties of implementing an SMS within a small-sized work organization are well known by practitioners, including inspectors and auditors. In this paper, how the bowtie model, introduced 10 years ago by the ARAMIS project, may be exploited to have an easy and effective SMS, suitable also for small establishments, is discussed. In the audit procedure adopted by Italian competent authorities, the bow-tie approach is already present, even though in a complementary position with respect to the classic check list. The proposed method stresses the use of the bow-tie approach. The bowties connect equipment, operating instructions, procedures, and safety documents to the top events, as identified in the risk analysis. Near misses’ discussion exploits the potential of a net representation to find the weaknesses of safety barriers and the distance from potential top events. In the proposed method, the audit too is based on the operating experience, rather than on checklists. The method has been implemented by using a web-based application, named as AGILE-G, which has been tested in a few sample sites. It has been demonstrated as being suitable to involve workers in an effective prevention of major accidents, especially in SMEs.
