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There is always the potential for accidents in any work environment. Properly utilizing OSHA's LockOut/TagOut (LOTO) procedures can help you greatly reduce the risk of injuries while performing maintenance on hazardous machinery.
It's more than simply putting a tag or a lock on the machine that's being worked on, though. Making sure that you know all of the required steps of the LOTO procedures will help you ensure you're creating the safest environment possible for your employees.
Training your team to effectively enact the LOTO procedures is important, but don't forget that it's ultimately up to you to make sure they are being followed properly. To learn how Accupoint Software can help improve your LOTO process, please feel free to contact us.
It's more than simply putting a tag or a lock on the machine that's being worked on, though. Making sure that you know all of the required steps of the LOTO procedures will help you ensure you're creating the safest environment possible for your employees.
- Proper training is key. Making sure all of your employees are trained in the LOTO procedures -- not just the people who will actually work on the machines, is critical. A proper understanding of the entire process will help reduce the likelihood of someone accidentally interfering with any of the key safety steps.
- Identify all hazardous machinery. Knowing which machines will require the LOTO procedures beforehand will save time and prevent accidents.
- Following ALL of the required steps, not just some of them. Skipping steps can lead to unsafe conditions. They are as follows:
- Notify all affected employees of the intended LOTO.
- Shut down the machine according to proper shutdown procedures.
- Identify any and all energy sources to the machine and shut them down as well.
- Isolate the machine from said energy sources.
- LockOut/TagOut the machine by attaching locks and tags to any and all energy sources or switches that could power the machine back on.
- Safely release any stored energy left in the machine.
- Test machine to make sure it is completely powerless.
- Perform maintenance or repairs.
- Reverse LOTO procedure so the machine can be put back into service.
- Don't forget the steps to restarting safely. Removing any nonessential parts before you restart the machine -- tools or spare parts, for instance, is important. Properly reconnecting all energy sources and making sure all safety devices are back in place is critical as well. Finally, don't forget to let all affected employees know the equipment is back in service.
Training your team to effectively enact the LOTO procedures is important, but don't forget that it's ultimately up to you to make sure they are being followed properly. To learn how Accupoint Software can help improve your LOTO process, please feel free to contact us.
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"That'll never happen." Famous last words. Things can and will go wrong. The job of the business owner and engineers is to anticipate, evaluate, and mitigate possible risks in the operation. Especially if those risks include the potential of loss of life, facilities, and equipment. Risk management and risk assessment are tools to assist companies in understanding and mitigating potential problems.
Anticipate the Risks:
This involves identifying the risks to the operation. The best way to start is to construct what-if scenarios. What if there was a major lightning strike on the north tower? What if a blowout preventer failed? What if our computer controllers are hacked? Identify key safety processes and discuss what would happen if each failed. Include a review of injury, maintenance, and incident reports, the near misses as well as the losses.
The best brainstorming sessions include staff from all parts of the operation, including the front line workers. They often know the dangers better than management because they've been on the receiving end of the close calls.
Evaluate the Risks:
Separate the risks into groups (some may fall into more than one category.) As an example, headings might include loss of life/injury, loss of the facility, loss of equipment, loss of data, loss of income, environmental damage, etc. Go through each category and rank the risks from highest damage potential to lowest. The same incident may rank differently in different categories.
This can lead to some sobering realizations such as if there was a fire at the south entrance, everyone in the maintenance bay would be trapped.
The next step requires expertise and analysis. Each risk needs to be considered by its probability of happening. For example, a natural disaster causing major property and environmental damage is going to have a higher probability in areas prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Conversely, equipment that is new, well-maintained, and has little or no record of operating problems is going to have a lower probability of failure.
The goal is to create a risk matrix. At a glance, a company can sort out high damage, but low probability occurrences from the more immediate risks faced by the company. In short, the risk matrix identifies the likelihood of a failure and the damages if it happens.
This can be a difficult procedure. Software experts have gathered data about everything from weather or injury reports and the programs can assist you in assigning probabilities of different types of failures. Creation of a risk matrix may start out as yellow pads and whiteboards, but in modern business, it will end up as a computerized summary identifying the company's key vulnerabilities.
Mitigate the Risks:
This isn't just good business, its good stewardship. Once the risk matrix identifies areas of improvement, the company can target resources to lessening or eliminating the problems. Rather than trying to hurricane-proof the entire facility, it could be as simple as clearing out trees and bushes around key valves and equipment. If there is a history of injuries, a job process can be reworked or additional safety equipment installed. Computers can be upgraded and expanded to include easily accessible cloud storage. Comprehensive risk management reviews can also weed out inefficient tottering equipment that is costing the company more in dollars and danger than it is worth.
Performing a risk evaluation is a major project. Depending on the size and complexity of the operation, it is a significant commitment of manpower and resources. But the payoff is increased efficiency, lower accident rates, and real savings by avoiding unnecessary downtime and repairs. Bonuses include a better relationship with safety and environmental regulatory agencies and potentially lower insurance rates. Contact us to discuss solutions to help streamline and improve your risk management system.
Anticipate the Risks:
This involves identifying the risks to the operation. The best way to start is to construct what-if scenarios. What if there was a major lightning strike on the north tower? What if a blowout preventer failed? What if our computer controllers are hacked? Identify key safety processes and discuss what would happen if each failed. Include a review of injury, maintenance, and incident reports, the near misses as well as the losses.
The best brainstorming sessions include staff from all parts of the operation, including the front line workers. They often know the dangers better than management because they've been on the receiving end of the close calls.
Evaluate the Risks:
Separate the risks into groups (some may fall into more than one category.) As an example, headings might include loss of life/injury, loss of the facility, loss of equipment, loss of data, loss of income, environmental damage, etc. Go through each category and rank the risks from highest damage potential to lowest. The same incident may rank differently in different categories.
This can lead to some sobering realizations such as if there was a fire at the south entrance, everyone in the maintenance bay would be trapped.
The next step requires expertise and analysis. Each risk needs to be considered by its probability of happening. For example, a natural disaster causing major property and environmental damage is going to have a higher probability in areas prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Conversely, equipment that is new, well-maintained, and has little or no record of operating problems is going to have a lower probability of failure.
The goal is to create a risk matrix. At a glance, a company can sort out high damage, but low probability occurrences from the more immediate risks faced by the company. In short, the risk matrix identifies the likelihood of a failure and the damages if it happens.
This can be a difficult procedure. Software experts have gathered data about everything from weather or injury reports and the programs can assist you in assigning probabilities of different types of failures. Creation of a risk matrix may start out as yellow pads and whiteboards, but in modern business, it will end up as a computerized summary identifying the company's key vulnerabilities.
Mitigate the Risks:
This isn't just good business, its good stewardship. Once the risk matrix identifies areas of improvement, the company can target resources to lessening or eliminating the problems. Rather than trying to hurricane-proof the entire facility, it could be as simple as clearing out trees and bushes around key valves and equipment. If there is a history of injuries, a job process can be reworked or additional safety equipment installed. Computers can be upgraded and expanded to include easily accessible cloud storage. Comprehensive risk management reviews can also weed out inefficient tottering equipment that is costing the company more in dollars and danger than it is worth.
Performing a risk evaluation is a major project. Depending on the size and complexity of the operation, it is a significant commitment of manpower and resources. But the payoff is increased efficiency, lower accident rates, and real savings by avoiding unnecessary downtime and repairs. Bonuses include a better relationship with safety and environmental regulatory agencies and potentially lower insurance rates. Contact us to discuss solutions to help streamline and improve your risk management system.
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Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are a useful to way to determine the effectiveness of your team or company in its efforts to meet performance objectives. When establishing KPIs, it's important to understand exactly what would indicate success for your team, and whether or not it is measurable. Here are four KPI Metrics Measurement Fundamentals to consider.
Is it specific to your team and to your stakeholders?
A useful KPI targets a goal that your team has control over, and an outcome that your stakeholders desire. If you're managing a quality control laboratory, you likely wouldn't want to set a KPI dependent on the overall company's ROI. This is outside of your team's direct control, and it doesn't apply directly to your primary stakeholders.
Instead, ask yourself, what indicates my team is performing successfully, and what do our stakeholders care about. In a quality control laboratory, this might be number of tests run per day, or perhaps target turnaround times for each sample received.
Does it motivate or discourage?
Think of a KPI as a realistic stretch goal, not unrealistic perfection.
Improving customer satisfaction by 3% is likely doable. Requiring turnaround times under 24 hours for a 48 hour test is not.
What you set as a KPI directly impacts your team members and your stakeholders. It's up to you to set realistic, meaningful targets, and to frame it in a way that motivates instead of discourages.
How will the KPI be measured?
A KPI is only useful if there is a system in place to measure it. If you're targeting customer satisfaction, are you already sending out customer surveys? And do you have a baseline number to work from?
Or, if you're interested in setting turnaround times as your KPI, how will this be measured? Is there already a software system in place? Do you, your team, and your customers have a common understanding of what a satisfactory turnaround time would be? What will the dashboard for the KPI look like, and how will results be communicated?
What do you hope to learn or improve by measuring this KPI?
KPIs are not only an opportunity to determine how effective your team is, they're also a way to determine opportunities for improvement and growth. When setting a KPI, ask yourself what might need to change in order to succeed, and what needs to change if you're unsuccessful. These could be things like processes, improvements in communication, or streamlining sample processing. Who will make these changes, and when?
Selecting and measuring effective KPIs is an important way to ensure team success and client satisfaction. Please contact us to find out how we can help you track your targets. We look forward to hearing from you!
Is it specific to your team and to your stakeholders?
A useful KPI targets a goal that your team has control over, and an outcome that your stakeholders desire. If you're managing a quality control laboratory, you likely wouldn't want to set a KPI dependent on the overall company's ROI. This is outside of your team's direct control, and it doesn't apply directly to your primary stakeholders.
Instead, ask yourself, what indicates my team is performing successfully, and what do our stakeholders care about. In a quality control laboratory, this might be number of tests run per day, or perhaps target turnaround times for each sample received.
Does it motivate or discourage?
Think of a KPI as a realistic stretch goal, not unrealistic perfection.
Improving customer satisfaction by 3% is likely doable. Requiring turnaround times under 24 hours for a 48 hour test is not.
What you set as a KPI directly impacts your team members and your stakeholders. It's up to you to set realistic, meaningful targets, and to frame it in a way that motivates instead of discourages.
How will the KPI be measured?
A KPI is only useful if there is a system in place to measure it. If you're targeting customer satisfaction, are you already sending out customer surveys? And do you have a baseline number to work from?
Or, if you're interested in setting turnaround times as your KPI, how will this be measured? Is there already a software system in place? Do you, your team, and your customers have a common understanding of what a satisfactory turnaround time would be? What will the dashboard for the KPI look like, and how will results be communicated?
What do you hope to learn or improve by measuring this KPI?
KPIs are not only an opportunity to determine how effective your team is, they're also a way to determine opportunities for improvement and growth. When setting a KPI, ask yourself what might need to change in order to succeed, and what needs to change if you're unsuccessful. These could be things like processes, improvements in communication, or streamlining sample processing. Who will make these changes, and when?
Selecting and measuring effective KPIs is an important way to ensure team success and client satisfaction. Please contact us to find out how we can help you track your targets. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Preventive maintenance refers to the practice of keeping machinery and equipment up-to-date in order to prevent problems before they occur. Preventive maintenance is important in all types of businesses, but particularly in the petroleum industry.
Both the API Spec Q1 & API Spec Q2 standards require a documented preventive maintenance program, specifically section 5.7.8 in both standards. The goal here is to keep all equipment in working order as a means to minimize risk and improve operational efficiency.
The best practices for preventive maintenance include creating a preventive maintenance plan and carrying out the plan effectively.
Create or Review Your Preventive Maintenance Plan
What are the specific preventive maintenance needs of your facility? Take into account your facility size, types of machines used, and other unique factors. If you don't currently have a plan in place, you will need to create one. Existing plans can benefit from periodic reviews.
Management should agree on a definition of what preventative maintenance means for your facility before you begin creating or revising a plan.
Take an inventory of each machine and its specific maintenance needs. Include both cleaning requirements and upkeep for each machine. Create a schedule for long- and short-term maintenance.
Organize your maintenance schedule using computer software. With so many types of machines with different needs, software can help keep everything organized and easy to keep track of.
Physical observation of machinery will also be necessary. Schedule walk-through examinations of machines by qualified employees.
Keep Employees Informed
Employees need to be aware of the preventive maintenance plan, especially those who will be conducting the inspections or performing the maintenance. Emphasize the importance of preventive maintenance and its role in your business's continued success.
Keep up with the Plan
Ensure employees carry out the plan by keeping up with inspections, cleaning, and other periodic maintenance. Software that creates work orders can make sure the preventive maintenance of your facility is implemented smoothly.
Creating or updating your preventive maintenance plan doesn't have to be difficult and time-consuming. The work you do in advance could save you time and money later on. To find out how Accupoint Software can help streamline your preventative maintenance plan, contact us.
Both the API Spec Q1 & API Spec Q2 standards require a documented preventive maintenance program, specifically section 5.7.8 in both standards. The goal here is to keep all equipment in working order as a means to minimize risk and improve operational efficiency.
The best practices for preventive maintenance include creating a preventive maintenance plan and carrying out the plan effectively.
Create or Review Your Preventive Maintenance Plan
What are the specific preventive maintenance needs of your facility? Take into account your facility size, types of machines used, and other unique factors. If you don't currently have a plan in place, you will need to create one. Existing plans can benefit from periodic reviews.
Management should agree on a definition of what preventative maintenance means for your facility before you begin creating or revising a plan.
Take an inventory of each machine and its specific maintenance needs. Include both cleaning requirements and upkeep for each machine. Create a schedule for long- and short-term maintenance.
Organize your maintenance schedule using computer software. With so many types of machines with different needs, software can help keep everything organized and easy to keep track of.
Physical observation of machinery will also be necessary. Schedule walk-through examinations of machines by qualified employees.
Keep Employees Informed
Employees need to be aware of the preventive maintenance plan, especially those who will be conducting the inspections or performing the maintenance. Emphasize the importance of preventive maintenance and its role in your business's continued success.
Keep up with the Plan
Ensure employees carry out the plan by keeping up with inspections, cleaning, and other periodic maintenance. Software that creates work orders can make sure the preventive maintenance of your facility is implemented smoothly.
Creating or updating your preventive maintenance plan doesn't have to be difficult and time-consuming. The work you do in advance could save you time and money later on. To find out how Accupoint Software can help streamline your preventative maintenance plan, contact us.
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Keeping your employees safe in the work place should be a top priority. This is especially true in the oil and gas industry. To that end, today’s post will discuss why HSE management is important and some techniques you can apply to your business plan.
Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) involves creating processes for identifying workplace hazards, reducing accidents and minimizing exposure to harmful situations and substances. This is accomplished by developing detailed operating procedures and then effectively communicating the information to your team. It is important to ensure that the information has been internalized and must be monitored to verify that it is followed. The main goal is to maintain a safe and productive work environment.
Why HSE Management is Important
How to Get Employees to Comply
Employees must complete hours of training that many people find boring and useless. To keep them interested, you should develop a safety compliance plan that is interactive, interesting, and to-the-point.
Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) involves creating processes for identifying workplace hazards, reducing accidents and minimizing exposure to harmful situations and substances. This is accomplished by developing detailed operating procedures and then effectively communicating the information to your team. It is important to ensure that the information has been internalized and must be monitored to verify that it is followed. The main goal is to maintain a safe and productive work environment.
Why HSE Management is Important
- It prevents your business from being fined for unsafe environments.
- It will help you keep production levels up.
- It protects your company from liability and a bad reputation.
How to Get Employees to Comply
Employees must complete hours of training that many people find boring and useless. To keep them interested, you should develop a safety compliance plan that is interactive, interesting, and to-the-point.
- Design the training to help your employees, keeping in mind their backgrounds and what they already know.
- Keep the training session short. Break up the information into several sessions if necessary.
- Use bullet points for large amounts of information.
- Choose carefully which topics you want to cover, to avoid information overload.
- If possible, add humor to your lessons. This will help employees connect on a different level and make the training more enjoyable for everyone.
- Make the trainings available online. This will allow employees to work on it from virtually any location, encouraging faster completion.
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Visitor management refers to the tracking and accounting of visitors to a facility. Visitor management is very important in the petroleum industry because of the unique safety concerns that arise. The best practices for visitor management take the visitor from arrival to departure, making the experience both informative and safe for everyone involved.
Register Visitors
The visitor management process begins with registration. This should be done electronically when a new visitor arrives. The visitor's name, business, and time of arrival will be recorded. At this time, a badge or other form of identification can be given to the visitor so they are clearly identifiable by employees.
Safety
With the types of equipment and chemicals used in the petroleum industry, visitor safety is a major concern. Visitors may be given hard hats or other safety equipment as needed.
Supervision
Making sure visitors are always properly supervised is a best practice for visitor management. Employees involved with supervising visitors should give visitors access to any relevant safety rules before allowing them into the facility. The employee should remain with the visitor for the duration of the visit.
Restricted Areas
There may be certain areas of your facility that visitors cannot go. Using electronic visitor management, you can restrict these areas to all or certain visitors. You may also be able to track a visitor's movements throughout a facility using their badge.
Releasing Visitors
Visitors should be released by reversing the registration process. They will need to return their badge and any safety equipment they used. The time they are released will be noted electronically in the visitor record.
Using these visitor management best practices, your facility and all visitors will remain safe and well accounted for.
To find out how Accupoint Software can help your business with visitor management, contact us.
Register Visitors
The visitor management process begins with registration. This should be done electronically when a new visitor arrives. The visitor's name, business, and time of arrival will be recorded. At this time, a badge or other form of identification can be given to the visitor so they are clearly identifiable by employees.
Safety
With the types of equipment and chemicals used in the petroleum industry, visitor safety is a major concern. Visitors may be given hard hats or other safety equipment as needed.
Supervision
Making sure visitors are always properly supervised is a best practice for visitor management. Employees involved with supervising visitors should give visitors access to any relevant safety rules before allowing them into the facility. The employee should remain with the visitor for the duration of the visit.
Restricted Areas
There may be certain areas of your facility that visitors cannot go. Using electronic visitor management, you can restrict these areas to all or certain visitors. You may also be able to track a visitor's movements throughout a facility using their badge.
Releasing Visitors
Visitors should be released by reversing the registration process. They will need to return their badge and any safety equipment they used. The time they are released will be noted electronically in the visitor record.
Using these visitor management best practices, your facility and all visitors will remain safe and well accounted for.
To find out how Accupoint Software can help your business with visitor management, contact us.
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Per the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), every business must keep records and safety information about the chemicals they use. These records, called Material Safety Data sheets (MSDS) or Safety Data Sheets (SDS) list many types of information about the chemicals, including toxicology, ecological information, and fire-fighting measures. As part of the petroleum industry, properly organizing and managing your MSDS is important for many reasons.
To Comply with OSHA
OSHA requires efficient management and organization of MSDS. If OSHA decides to perform an audit, they will check to see if you have MSDS readily available, along with other important safety documentation. Each chemical used in your facility must have an MSDS and a corresponding label on the chemical container to comply.
Many Types of Chemicals
The petroleum industry uses many types of chemicals in oil refineries, especially gasoline, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, and other types of fuels. These chemicals can be dangerous if proper safety procedures are not known. The MSDS for each chemical will list this information so it is readily available to all employees. Efficient management of MSDS is crucial because there are so many types of chemicals used in the petroleum industry.
For the Safety of Your Employees
One of the main reasons OSHA requires MSDS is in case of emergency. If there is an accident and a chemical gets into an employee's eye, another employee can look up the MSDS and find out how to treat the affected employee. Another example of an emergency situation is a fire. If a chemical fire breaks out, it is important for employees to know how to fight the fire or alert firefighters about the chemical. Having readily available and organized MSDS is imperative in these situations.
Contact us today to find out how Accupoint Software can help you organize the management of your MSDS program.
Happy New Year.
To Comply with OSHA
OSHA requires efficient management and organization of MSDS. If OSHA decides to perform an audit, they will check to see if you have MSDS readily available, along with other important safety documentation. Each chemical used in your facility must have an MSDS and a corresponding label on the chemical container to comply.
Many Types of Chemicals
The petroleum industry uses many types of chemicals in oil refineries, especially gasoline, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, and other types of fuels. These chemicals can be dangerous if proper safety procedures are not known. The MSDS for each chemical will list this information so it is readily available to all employees. Efficient management of MSDS is crucial because there are so many types of chemicals used in the petroleum industry.
For the Safety of Your Employees
One of the main reasons OSHA requires MSDS is in case of emergency. If there is an accident and a chemical gets into an employee's eye, another employee can look up the MSDS and find out how to treat the affected employee. Another example of an emergency situation is a fire. If a chemical fire breaks out, it is important for employees to know how to fight the fire or alert firefighters about the chemical. Having readily available and organized MSDS is imperative in these situations.
Contact us today to find out how Accupoint Software can help you organize the management of your MSDS program.
Happy New Year.
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Process excellence and quality management systems have the power to transform entire organizations into lean, highly efficient cash flow machines that exceed customer expectations. While quality management systems, including API Spec Q1 or API Spec Q2, comprise different tiers and tools there are common methodologies for monitoring and improving quality within companies. Two common tools include standard operating instructions and quality auditing.
Standard Operating Instructions
Standardizing processes and systems is a critical step in quality assurance and enhancing operational efficiency. After benchmarking a process, the next step is to measure, analyze and improve it, leading to benefits for employees, customers and businesses. Writing a standard operating instruction is part of standardizing a process, so that subject matter experts along with management can analyze and improve it. These written instructions are either detailed or in an outline form, depending on the needs of employees and management.
Quality Auditing
Product, process and system audits improve the way individuals and teams function within organizations. These audits examine what the ideal process or system is relative to current state operations. This element of a quality management system is also closely tied with corrective action requests, which take a systematic approach to identifying and solving operational deficiencies. Independent audits related to efficiency and effectiveness have the power to drive quality and innovation in functional departments across organizations.
For additional information on quality management systems and the power of process excellence to improve your business, please contact us today. System optimization can take your business to the next level, with the proper planning and professional support.
Happy Holidays!
Standard Operating Instructions
Standardizing processes and systems is a critical step in quality assurance and enhancing operational efficiency. After benchmarking a process, the next step is to measure, analyze and improve it, leading to benefits for employees, customers and businesses. Writing a standard operating instruction is part of standardizing a process, so that subject matter experts along with management can analyze and improve it. These written instructions are either detailed or in an outline form, depending on the needs of employees and management.
Quality Auditing
Product, process and system audits improve the way individuals and teams function within organizations. These audits examine what the ideal process or system is relative to current state operations. This element of a quality management system is also closely tied with corrective action requests, which take a systematic approach to identifying and solving operational deficiencies. Independent audits related to efficiency and effectiveness have the power to drive quality and innovation in functional departments across organizations.
For additional information on quality management systems and the power of process excellence to improve your business, please contact us today. System optimization can take your business to the next level, with the proper planning and professional support.
Happy Holidays!
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An internal quality audit is folded into a company’s corrective and preventative practices. The audit takes a snap shot of the organization’s compliance procedures, and then analyzes that snapshot to identify potential problems. In the oil and gas industry, internal audits are an integral part of the quality management system.
To that end we have outlined 5 key steps to ensure that your internal audit process is effective:
Oil and gas concerns are usually multi-state and multi-location enterprises with hundreds, if not thousands of employees. The compliance audits for the oil and gas industries are exhaustive and complex. Effectively managing the audit function will ensure compliance to customer requirements, as well as related regulations and standards. For more information on how Accupoint Software can help improve your internal audit process, please contact us.
To that end we have outlined 5 key steps to ensure that your internal audit process is effective:
- Scheduling. Audit dates, the person leading the audit and the processes or machinery to be audited on those dates. Any and all pertinent documentation should be included in these audits. Everyone involved needs to be clear on when the audit will occur, and what is being audited. This gives them time to prep all their documentation and resources correctly.
- Plan. What is the plan for this audit? The scope and depth of the audit must be made available to all involved in the audit. Included in this plan should be the chronology of the actual audit. Again, preparing employees, staff and c-level for the audit process is as important as the audit itself.
- Audit manager communication. The person that leads the audit has to communicate any changes that may occur in a timely fashion. This means that a schedule change has to take into consideration the department being audited and how much time they will need to respond to the change. Keeping the schedule on track is of the utmost importance, other departments and divisions are relying on their schedule too.
- Generating accurate reports. Management, stakeholders and c-level staff are usually the first to receive the reports generated by the audit. Problems (noncompliance) are analyzed and discussed at this stage, along with solutions to bring the department back into compliance. All essential personnel need to get this information at the same time.
- Action taken. The compliance manager will respond to noncompliance issues on an agreed date. The response must include an investigation into the problem, along with suggested remedies and a date for those remedies to be completed. The lead auditor should sign off on these proposals before work can begin.
Oil and gas concerns are usually multi-state and multi-location enterprises with hundreds, if not thousands of employees. The compliance audits for the oil and gas industries are exhaustive and complex. Effectively managing the audit function will ensure compliance to customer requirements, as well as related regulations and standards. For more information on how Accupoint Software can help improve your internal audit process, please contact us.
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Safety is essential to the petroleum field operation.
The importance of collecting and analyzing large amounts of data and providing solutions or recommendations based on that data is essential to the oil and gas industry. Accurate analysis is a make or break scenario for field crews and managers alike. Software that automates inspections of existing equipment and throughput while alerting key employees to problems that may arise is the first line of defense for a streamlined oil and gas operation.
Oil and Gas: Risky Heavy Industry.
The oil and gas industry has to meet stringent federal and state strictures to operate. Environmental, safety and social aspects of field operations cannot be ignored. The regulations can be convoluted in their complexity. Software applications that monitor all aspects of a drilling venture or transfer station simplify all processes while meeting regulatory criteria effortlessly. Even if you don't know how often you should be checking your release valve, the compliance software will, and can perform that task automatically.
Safety inspections are the backbone of a field operation.
Without them you can be shut down. Whether the shut-down is triggered by an independent inspection that fails, or a faulty mechanism that went unnoticed, the costs associated with a work stoppage are enormous. When you use inspection compliance software you are providing a vanguard against the possibility of failed inspections or machinery. Every aspect of your operation will be monitored and analyzed. Developing problems can be corrected before they turn into a disaster. Inspections can be scheduled according to your circumstances.
Software flexibility, a long-term solution.
No one wants to pay thousands for inspection compliance software only to have it become outdated within a few months. Regulatory mandates can change overnight; your inspection compliance software needs to respond to those changes just as quickly. Software with a built-in protocol for shifting and adding data blocks effortlessly solves the problem of the ever-changing regulatory atmosphere for the operator. When you can diversify and streamline your software to fit changing needs, you have a flexible application that works with your operation.
The four most important tasks of automated inspection software:
Get the help you need.
The petroleum industry is filled with complexity and regulatory oversight. Not to mention the dangers associated with field operations. Attempting to run your inspections without the help of compliance software is a one way ticket to failure. When you are ready for more information please contact us.
The importance of collecting and analyzing large amounts of data and providing solutions or recommendations based on that data is essential to the oil and gas industry. Accurate analysis is a make or break scenario for field crews and managers alike. Software that automates inspections of existing equipment and throughput while alerting key employees to problems that may arise is the first line of defense for a streamlined oil and gas operation.
Oil and Gas: Risky Heavy Industry.
The oil and gas industry has to meet stringent federal and state strictures to operate. Environmental, safety and social aspects of field operations cannot be ignored. The regulations can be convoluted in their complexity. Software applications that monitor all aspects of a drilling venture or transfer station simplify all processes while meeting regulatory criteria effortlessly. Even if you don't know how often you should be checking your release valve, the compliance software will, and can perform that task automatically.
Safety inspections are the backbone of a field operation.
Without them you can be shut down. Whether the shut-down is triggered by an independent inspection that fails, or a faulty mechanism that went unnoticed, the costs associated with a work stoppage are enormous. When you use inspection compliance software you are providing a vanguard against the possibility of failed inspections or machinery. Every aspect of your operation will be monitored and analyzed. Developing problems can be corrected before they turn into a disaster. Inspections can be scheduled according to your circumstances.
Software flexibility, a long-term solution.
No one wants to pay thousands for inspection compliance software only to have it become outdated within a few months. Regulatory mandates can change overnight; your inspection compliance software needs to respond to those changes just as quickly. Software with a built-in protocol for shifting and adding data blocks effortlessly solves the problem of the ever-changing regulatory atmosphere for the operator. When you can diversify and streamline your software to fit changing needs, you have a flexible application that works with your operation.
The four most important tasks of automated inspection software:
- Manage all the data and information in a high performance operation seamlessly. Analyze that data and pass information on to key people
- Perform automated inspections of the entire operation or a specific component of it based on the client’s needs. Generate full reports of these inspections.
- Be flexible enough to meet compliance standards and regulations that change constantly. The need to reconfigure inspection software in the field is continuous, make sure to choose inspections software that has a flexibility feature.
- Mitigate risk. By applying inspection software to your operation, you reduce risk one thousand fold. Because these solutions are so inclusive and exhaustive in their data collection and analysis, potentially dangerous problems are caught well before they manifest.
Get the help you need.
The petroleum industry is filled with complexity and regulatory oversight. Not to mention the dangers associated with field operations. Attempting to run your inspections without the help of compliance software is a one way ticket to failure. When you are ready for more information please contact us.
