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| Criterion |  Operations Fault Tree Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a critical top event with several possible triggers, the method logically models failure paths. It makes visible which combinations of conditions can lead to damage. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | 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 | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 30-90 min | 45-90 min | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 1-6 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Tree, Critical Paths, Cause Hypotheses, Control Actions | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | RiskRoot causeSafety | DecisionTreeOptions | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Root causeSafetyIncident |