Facilitating an Online HAZOP study
When COVID hit we had to find alternatives to face to face HAZOP reviews. We went virtual, and it worked well! This short post covers some of the benefits of facilitating HAZOP meetings online.
Benefit #1: No need to travel saves time, saves money and allows a better schedule.
One of the most appealing aspects of holding a HAZOP virtually is that no one needs to travel. This saves travel costs which is a good thing. More importantly it allows a more flexible, and less demanding meeting schedule. When people have flown in from all over we tend to schedule back to back full day meetings. And we all know how exhausting and disruptive five straight days of meetings can be.
For the virtual HAZOP we scheduled two two -hour sessions each morning. We took a half hour break between sessions, and had the afternoon off. This was a good balance between finishing the study quickly, and taking care of your “day job”.
The extra time between meetings also gave people time to;
-
Review the documentation.
-
Research issues identified during the HAZOP.
-
Clear any issues that we had put into the Parking Lot.
When people were in the HAZOP study meetng we had their undivided attention. We also found that attendance was much better. This meant we had less backtracking and updating to do. We also had less risk of missing something important.
Benefit #2: Clear, visible, easy to review documentation
The HAZOP Manager 7.0 recording software we use and an online meeting tool are a winning combination.
It works well with:
-
Microsoft Teams,
-
Zoom meetings,
-
WebEx,
-
and Skype for Business
All of these tools have a “share my screen” capability. The HAZOP recording software has an easy to read main entry screen. This display well on your computer screen. This means that the participants see everything the Faclitators enters into the software. The close scrutiny of the documentation means much better quality documentation.
Benefit #3: It is much easier to facilitate over a video call than a conference call
When we were facilitating face to face HAZOP meetings there always seemed to be someone who had to phone in. This invisible participant was much more difficult to manage. You can’t see when they wan to speak. And you can’t tell if they are engaged, bored, confused or anything else.
In a Virtual HAZOP meeting you can see everyone. No one is left out, and the facilitator can judge and manage the mood of the group.
If you would like to know more about Virtual HAZOP Facilitation…
Please give us a call… Bruce Withrow at 416 461 0715, or bwithrow@facilitators.com
The initial consultation is always free.
Want to learn more about what a HAZOP is?
You can find more details about our HAZOP Facilitation Process here … https://facilitators.com/cases/hazop-facilitator/