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Process Mapping


  Overview  

Process Mapping refers to breaking down HSE activities or processes into discreet, well-defined steps, links those steps to specific business activities and/or products, and clarifies HSE information and reporting requirements, along with the associated input and output data. Discovering and resolving problems is, in general, substantially less costly when done sooner rather than later.  Process Mapping also serves to help identify HSE information requirements associated with specific activities.

The Basics of Process Mapping by Robert Damelio (Paperback - Jul 1996)

 

 Key Concepts  
  • The HSE Vision drives process mapping, and the cross-functional team is a critical resource.
  • Process mapping enables the cross-functional team to identify and integrate workflow processes, streamline and enhance processes, and more effectively identify areas requiring improvement.
  • Understanding existing, new, and planned processes and procedures is vital.
  • Process maps also are helpful in documenting business processes. In some cases, two sets of process maps are used to record HSE business processes—a current ("as-is") map and a future ("to-be") map.
  • Benchmarking results and cross-mentoring can prove extremely valuable in process mapping.  Evaluate how other companies have implemented a particular process and try to learn from their experiences.  There may be many different ways to implement a process or procedure, and each company can tailor process mapping to its business operations. 
  • Evaluate and integrate historical data into your new process map effort.

 
 
 Practical Advice  

  • Devote adequate time and resources to this critical planning stage. Refer to the HSE Vision and corporate strategic business plan to develop "to-be" processes.
  • Evaluate to what extent historical data will be migrated into the new system, considering costs and resources that will be required. Don't underestimate how much time and money this effort could take. 
  • Employ a cross-functional team to seamlessly integrate HSE processes into business processes, rather than creating a "stand-alone" HSE system.
    • Identify the major processes and establish a thorough definition of business processes. This will assist in identifying the types of professionals and practitioners to include in your cross-functional team.  It will also help to ensure that your team can comprehensively address your company's HSE goals and concerns.
    • Assemble your cross-functional team, comprised of relevant stakeholders. Consider including team members from each of a company's divisions or departments, where relevant.
    • Work with the cross-functional team to identify and integrate HSE-MIS activities and processes into Process Mapping. It may take several iterations to arrive at the most efficient model tailored to your business operations. However, careful planning will help to conserve financial and personnel resources over the long term, and help to establish a solid foundation for strong, sustained HSE performance.
    • Team members should be individuals who are supportive of the effort.
    • Ensure that the cross-functional team is diverse in terms of areas of expertise and/or business operations and that each member of the team is included as early in the process as possible.  This will help to engender broad buy-in and support.
 

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