Improving O&G Safety Operations w/ Business Process Automation

Despite the recent and extended oil price downturn, that triggered a wave of cost reduction among upstream businesses, Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) still continues to be a top priority for the Oil & Gas industry as it’s proven that lack of safety has fatal consequences that can impact lives. Since improving safety and reducing operational costs have become the main focus of Oil & Gas companies, organizations are now looking to maximize their efficiency and reduce risks and errors by analyzing, streamlining, and automating their business processes and applying the right technology where it has the most impact.

One of the best places where technology can be applied to improve efficiency and reduce errors and cost is around Operational Workflow Processes.

 What is Workflow Automation?

Workflow automation boosts the efficiency of business processes by automatically carrying out repetitive and critical tasks and by removing the potential for human error within these internal processes.  Safety processes that depend on people can easily break down for any number of reasons – from lack of user training, to not properly following the safety steps, to not acting promptly on notification about safety incidents.

Workflow automation minimizes those risks by building consistency, accuracy, and quality check points into processes that can result in significantly increasing the chance of tasks being done correctly and in a timely manner.

 Automation Technology for Safety Operations:

Here are a few benefits of streamlining and automating business processes that can improve safety in any operations:

• Real-time reporting of hazards means faster incident response

Conventional reporting and document management in many industries is often paper-based, slow and complex. The inability to review real-time analysis and results of inspections and other aspects of field operations can delay projects and create crisis situations. By digitizing the data-capturing forms and automating the business processes, organizations can gather and display accurate data through various data visualization tools (such as Dashboards and Scorecards), allowing them to make more data-driven decisions and drive improvements in business productivity, agility and profitability.

With mobile applications now reports can be filed on a smart phone or tablet (even when off-line), and instant access gives decision-makers the ability to react to evolving situations before an incident becomes a catastrophe.

• Data capture in the cloud saves time and money

Real-time data capture is a necessity in the Oil & Gas and many other industries.  Manual processes take time, and operational issues must be addressed as quickly as possibility.  Data is often stored in different locations, from three-ring binders to local laptops, that are not accessible to all users.

With mobile technology and the cloud, data captured onshore or offshore can be delivered to a central location where it can be stored, analyzed and shared with those who need it.

• Automated workflows improve compliance and reduce delays

Safety procedures necessarily require forms and approvals and many companies struggle with processes that require review and signatures by multiple people.  These delays reduce productivity and compliance.

Automated workflows allow users to create step by step procedures, forms and approval chains.  Workflows ensure that forms are completed and approved properly every time and approval times are reduced from days to hours.

Some process automation leaders, such as Nintex, offer a “Workflow As A Service” solution that allows organizations to automate workflow processes independent of one single platform. The Nintex Workflow Cloud, acting as a platform to build workflow apps,
bridges to Microsoft products like Office 365, OneDrive, and SharePoint, but also to cloud services
like, Salesforce, SAP, NetSuite, Box, Dropbox, Workday, DocuSign, ShareFile, Adobe, Twitter,
Yammer, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, LinkedIn and Facebook.  This makes it fast and easy to address workflow scenarios regardless of the underlying content source. It’s also a powerful, yet easy to use platform that simplifies operations — from day-to-day tasks to the most sophisticated business processes.

Build an Effective Safety Culture with Nintex

An effective HSE Management System requires that safety regulations, hazard management protocols, incident reporting forms and requirements must be readily available to employees at all times.  By delivering critical information to the people who need it, mobile solutions and automation can quickly reduce safety incidents and losses.

A new generation of software solutions such as Nintex are re-shaping workflows and document management across enterprises, and giving professionals the information that they need wherever they are.

Check out some of the key functionality that Nintex offers:

• Nintex Workflow powers digital workflow automation and turns time-consuming tasks and unstructured processes into well-run engines.  Nintex integrates with a wide range of commercial applications and Cloud solutions, including Office 365, Box, Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Dousing, Amazon Cloud and Azure, and more.
• Nintex Forms allow users to build electronic forms in minutes with Nintex’s easy to use Drag & Drop designer. Nintex forms are designed to operate where your users need them:  mobile devices, with a web browser, or across operating systems.
• Nintex Mobile extends digital workflows, enabling employees to keep critical processes moving – online or offline – no matter where they are. Built for smart phones or tablets, Nintex Mobile is optimized for people on the go and checking tasks is as easy as checking for text messages.
• 

Optimum:  Your Strategic Process Automation Partner

Optimum helps organizations streamline and automate their business processes, resulting in simplified communication, error reduction, time and cost savings, and greater compliance and accuracy.

By utilizing our in-house Business Process Management expertise, Nintex-certified and Business Intelligence consultants, and using point-and-click workflow automation solutions, we help our clients tackle everything from automating workflows and forms, to document generation, management and approvals, and integration with the world’s largest technology ecosystems including SharePoint/Office 365, Salesforce, SAP, Dynamics, Docusign, Box and other enterprise services platforms. 

Contact US for a free consultation to see how we can help you streamline your processes and workflows.