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| Criterion |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 45-120 min | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | Root causeSafetyIncident |
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