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| Criterion |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 2-6 h | 1-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 3-8 | 3-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tags1 shared | Root causeSafetyIncident | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |