What would happen if the HVAC system in your business broke down? Your place of business would quickly become hot and humid, and it could even jeopardize your goods and services. If you own a storefront or business where customers have to come into your building do to business, a broken HVAC is a sure way to put a damper on the deal.

The best way to avoid an HVAC malfunction is to be intentional about preventative maintenance. This HVAC Preventive Maintenance Checklist will help you keep an eye on one of the most essential systems in your business so you can identify and resolve small problems before they become big issues.

Create custom checklists that can be completed from anywhere. Try Device Magic for free today.

Why Is Maintenance Important?

If your company is consistently looking for ways to be sustainable and cut expenses, regular maintenance on all of your building’s systems is a must. Implementing routine preventive maintenance on your HVAC system can benefit you in many ways:

Lower Energy Bills

High-performing machines are more efficient, more sustainable, and can help lower energy bills. With regular maintenance, you can make sure that your HVAC system is not overworked. An overworked system will consume more energy and therefore result in higher utility bills. Performing routine preventive maintenance will help to keep your energy bills down.

Reduce Repair Costs

Preventive maintenance helps you catch issues with your HVAC system early. When you’re regularly checking the status of your HVAC unit, you can identify warning signs of malfunction and fix them before they require a more expensive solution.

Extend the Life of Your Unit

Investing a little time and money into preventative care of your HVAC system can dramatically impact how long the unit lasts. Buying a new system is a significant expense for your company. Proper preventive maintenance can keep your unit running its best for longer, so you can put off buying a new one until it’s absolutely necessary.

Safety

If you are using a gas furnace, it’s always important to be aware of the risk of carbon monoxide leaking into your air. This could be a life-threatening problem and could put you, your employees, and your customers in danger. Regular inspection can allow you to discover cracks or evidence of leaks so you can have a contractor fix this dangerous issue right away. Regular maintenance also helps you stay compliant with industry safety regulations.

Preventive Maintenance Checklist for Your HVAC System

Your HVAC system works differently in all four seasons. If you live in a colder climate, you rely on your heating system significantly for a good portion of the year. If you live in a warmer climate, an ice-cold air conditioning system is a requirement for most of the year. No matter where you live, it is recommended that you break your preventive maintenance for your HVAC system down by season:

Spring & Summer Maintenance

Your HVAC system has a specific set of responsibilities in the warmer months. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your system is keeping up with the warmer temps:

• Clean coils and condensers
• Replace all of your unit’s filters
• Check the outside unit, clear any debris, and ensure the cabinet door is closed
• Check the cabinet for leaks
• To ensure proper airflow, clear any clogs in the drain lines
• Check the refrigerant charge, thermostats, and all connections associated with the electrical system
• Inspect the ducts for dust and mold, and inspect the blowers and blades
• Make sure the fan motor is operating correctly and lubricate any moving parts

Fall & Winter Maintenance

Your HVAC system works differently in the colder seasons. Here are a few things you can do during the fall and winter to make sure your system is working effectively:

• Clear drain lines and carefully inspect all heating elements. A damaged heat exchanger could lead to carbon monoxide exposure
• Lubricate all moving parts such as bearings and motors
• Replace the filter every 30 to 90 days, and replace any pulleys or belts that are damaged or frayed
• Check for gas pressure and look for areas prone to gas leaks
• Check the thermostats, wiring and electrical connections, and the ignition burner assembly
• Inspect the heat pump and make sure the flue system is attached to the furnace

Stay on Top of Preventive Maintenance with Device Magic

Device Magic allows you to create a custom maintenance checklists for your HVAC system and other equipment. Our easy-to-use form builder allows you to create a checklist by dragging and dropping elements such as:

• Checkboxes
• Free Text
• Yes/No Questions
• Photos
• Geo-Mapping
• Bar Codes
• Time Questions
• Signature Boxes

With just a few clicks, you can create a detailed preventive maintenance checklist that is tailored to your business. Once completed, you can save, send, edit, and print the documents as needed. This will help you stay organized and stay on a regular maintenance schedule. You can even access these forms offline.

Try Device Magic today to see how easy it is to manage preventive maintenance on all of your business’s most important systems and equipment.

The post Complete HVAC Preventive Maintenance Checklist appeared first on Device Magic.

Providing a safe work environment for employees should be a priority for your company. When compliance is overlooked and workers aren’t trained properly or act carelessly, an accident or injuries can easily occur. Compliance with safety regulations will help your company to avoid accidents and costly OSHA violations that will stall your project or worse, shut down a work site. In this post, we’ll cover the top 10 OSHA violations and how to avoid them in 2020.

“The OSHA Top 10 is more than just a list. It is a blueprint for keeping workers safe. When we all work together to address hazards, we can do the best job possible to ensure employees go home safely each day.” – Deborah A.P. Hersman, President and CEO of the National Safety Council

Top OSHA Violations

Here’s a quick list at the top OSHA violations. We’ll provide a closer look at each below along with some tips on how to avoid them:

• Fall Protection – General Requirements
• Hazard Communication
• Scaffolding
• Lockout/Tagout
• Respiratory Protection
• Ladders
• Powered Industrial Trucks
• Fall Protection – Training Requirements
• Machine Guarding
• Eye & Face Protection
• Electrical – Wiring Methods

This list is a great place to start to evaluate safety on your own jobsite or workplace. Doing so will help you to avoid potential OSHA violations and expensive fines. This will also help you to be prepared if an OSHA inspector shows up at your site.

Device Magic can help you complete site inspections, audits, and compliance reports faster with mobile forms. Learn more

OSHA Violation Breakdown

Let’s take a closer look at each of the most common OSHA violations noted above:

Fall Protection – General Requirements

Every year, over 300,000 people are injured due to a fall in the workplace. This happens most commonly on construction sites, but the risk of slipping and falling is something every business needs to take very seriously. To avoid this extremely dangerous workplace risk:

• Keep walking surfaces clean and free of clutter
• Lighting and signage
• Require proper footwear
• Regularly inspect scaffolding and other susceptible areas

Hazard Communication

OSHA requires companies to have a hazard communication plan in place to keep everyone safe and accountable. An OSHA compliant Hazards Communication plan consists of four parts: a written program, appropriate labels and warnings, datasheets for material safety, and comprehensive hazard communication training. This allows employees to be clear about the hazards of the chemicals they are exposed to when working.

To avoid an OSHA violation:

• Educate employees on Hazard Communication labels around the workplace and what they mean
• Educate employees on how to detect the presence or release of a hazardous chemical in the work area and what to do if they find themselves in this situation
• Educate employees on the procedures you have in place to protect them from exposure to hazardous chemicals. This includes safe work practices, how to handle a hazardous materials emergency, and how to use/access personal protective equipment.

Scaffolding

Scaffolds are a necessary type of equipment used on most construction sites to help workers build, repair, and clean specific structures. They are essential to help workers reach projects that are high off the ground, but they can put workers at risk of slipping, falling, or being struck by falling objects.

OSHA has established specific standards to regulate the design, use, and construction of on-site scaffolds. To avoid this type of OSHA violation:

• Ensure all scaffolds higher than 10 feet have guardrails
• Use step stools and ladders to ensure workers can safely get off and on to the scaffold
• Check for gaps between the planking and decking that could cause a fall
• Check that the foundation of the scaffold is placed on something solid such as level gravel or crushed rock.

Device Magic makes it easy to keep track of your inspections. Use our free inspection report templates, or create custom forms to meet your unique requirements. Learn more

Lockout / Tagout

Lockout / Tagout (LOTO) procedures are in place to ensure that hazardous energy is not expelled during the service or maintenance of equipment and machinery. It also helps to prevent the unexpected energization or startup of machinery and equipment. According to OSHA, a Lockout / Tagout involves “authorized employee(s) either locking or tagging the energy-isolating device(s) to prevent the release of hazardous energy and take steps to verify that the energy has been isolated effectively.”

One of the easiest ways to prevent injury on the job is to ensure that all machinery and equipment is disabled when not in use, so it doesn’t start up accidentally. To avoid this type of OSHA violation:

• Get all of your employees on the same page. Many times, a lockout / tagout violation is not due to an employer’s negligence, but instead due to employees not being trained on the risks and procedures associated with LOTO. Require all employees to go through a LOTO training program.
• Perform regular inspections to audit all machinery and equipment, especially when there is a new piece of equipment in the workplace. Identify all sources of energy, not just electricity. A pulley could technically be a source of energy and could result in an accident if not stored and handled correctly.
• Don’t buy cheap equipment. Investing in durable and reliable machinery and equipment is much more cost-effective than paying thousands of dollars in OSHA violation fines—or workers compensation claims.

Powered Industrial Trucks

Incidents involving powered industrial trucks or forklifts consistently rank among the top 10 OSHA violations. OSHA requires any company using a forklift to have procedures in place regarding “hazard identification and solutions, supervision, operating procedures, maintenance and repair procedures, facility design, and forklift selection criteria.”

The improper use of a forklift could result in serious damages, injury, and even death. To avoid this type of violation:

• Develop a training program that identifies the type of workplace forklifts and which employees are authorized to use them.
• Set clear rules and restrictions on how and where a forklift can be used.
• Ensure adequate licensing. Ensure everyone who operates this equipment meets all the designated requirements and has the appropriate licensing.

Fall Protection – Training Requirements

Your company can be found in violation of OSHA standards if you don’t have a fall protection training program in place. Falling off of scaffolding or a tall ladder is not the only fall risk in a workplace. Many workers are injured when falling into an excavation site or in other situations as well.

To avoid this violation:

• Understand the four different levels of fall protection training requirements: awareness, authorized-user, competent person, and qualified-person training
• Ensure that all employees go through authorized-user training to comply with OSHA standards and regulations
• Keep good records. Detailed training records, such as dates and employee attendance, are required in some OSHA mandates.

Machine Guarding

Machines that are not guarded correctly put workers in harm’s way. Employees could be injured by flying pieces, sparks, and moving parts when machines do not have a safety guard in place. Some examples of machines that require the use of safety guards include transmission shops, flywheels, belt tighteners, portable saws, and more.

To keep employees safe and avoid this type of violation:

• Use safety guards. Make sure every machine that needs a safety guard has a safety.
• Watch pinch points. Keep guards away from pinch points.
• Train your workers. Provide adequate machine guard training so your workers know how to use these devices properly.
• Stay on top of preventive maintenance. Keep your machine guards maintained, and ensure all employees understand the importance of replacing machine guards after their removal for maintenance.

Eye & Face Protection

When a job requires an employee to come in contact with chemical, environmental, or radiological hazards, eye and face protection must be provided. Workers must go through a workplace hazard assessment and undergo training to ensure their health and safety. The training should include details on when this equipment is necessary, what equipment to use when, and the proper care, maintenance and disposal of the equipment.

Neglecting to train employees about the appropriate use of eye and face protection could result in severe injuries, blindness, and even death. To avoid this common type of OSHA violation:

• Make sure there are emergency eyewash stations in all areas that are considered hazardous.
• Post first aid instructions and procedures in areas of the workplace that could potentially be dangerous.
• Conduct workplace training that covers the proper care and use of personal protection equipment.

Electrical – Wiring Methods

Electrical equipment and wiring systems that are improperly installed can create a dangerous workplace environment. Faulty wiring methods can lead to blown circuits, fires, and electrocution. OSHA lists the following as the most frequent causes of electrical injuries: “contact with power lines, lack of ground-fault protection, the path to ground missing or discontinuous, equipment not used in the manner prescribed, and improper use of extension and flexible cords.”

To avoid this type of violation:

• Train employees on how to spot potential hazards and familiarize employees with the proper use of extension cords.
• Provide guidelines for appropriate maintenance and storage of power tools.
• Regularly inspect heavy machinery to make sure there is no risk of it coming in contact with live wires.
• Provide ladders that are not made of metal for employees who work with power lines.

More Tips to Avoid OSHA Violations

Here are a few more general tips to help you avoid top OSHA violations:

Document Procedures

Make sure that everyone at your company is aware of OSHA standards and guidelines so they can better follow them. One of the most important things you can do to avoid potential OSHA violations is to create a plan to deal with these hazards, and to train your employees sufficiently. Keep safety plans and procedures well documented and accessible to employees.

OSHA also provides training materials and resources to help you stay compliant and to create procedures for your company.

Identify Hazards

Violations related to falls and fall hazards consistently top OSHA’s list. Workers need to be able to safely access all areas on a jobsite or in the workplace to complete tasks. Guardrails, safety harnesses, railings, secure scaffolding and not having open areas are all steps you should take to protect workers.

In order to minimize risks for everyone on your site, it’s important to complete a job safety analysis. Each job safety analysis should outline the hazards of the job being performed, as well as what steps will be taken to prevent injury to the people completing the task. Once documented, this information can be used in employee training and can help you to be OSHA compliant.

Provide Sufficient and Frequent Training

Make sure that everyone at your company is aware of OSHA standards so they can better follow them. This is one of the most crucial areas to focus on to avoid violations. A lack of employee training is more likely to lead to an accident.

Provide training for all employees on using equipment and general safety procedures. Also, make sure that your documentation and training materials are updated regularly.

Safety training shouldn’t be limited to employee on-boarding. It needs to be consistently discussed and emphasized. Hold safety trainings every few months to keep the information fresh in employees’ minds. Creating a culture of compliance and safety will help your company to avoid dangerous situations and costly delays.

Consider Using Mobile Forms

Complete site inspections, audits and compliance reports faster with mobile forms. Learn more

The post Top 10 OSHA Violations & How to Avoid Them in 2020 appeared first on Device Magic.

The oil and gas industry is going through a massive digital transformation in 2019. This transformation is being driven by multiple trends in technology and the broader economy. First, take a step back to look at the health of the industry.

What’s Driving Automation in Oil and Gas in 2019?

Several economic factors are driving these capital-intensive industries to invest heavily in technology. First, oil companies face the challenge of lower prices. Some analysts forecast Brent crude prices up to $73 per barrel in 2019. While that’s an improvement over 2018, it’s a far cry from the $100 and higher prices last seen in 2014. Natural gas prices continue to be highly volatile. That leaves managers struggling to maintain profits through more efficient operations.

Finally, several technology trends including data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI have matured significantly in recent years. As a result, it’s now possible to do the following with oil and gas industry automation.

1. Leverage Data Analytics

In 2019, oil and gas companies are going to step up their work in managing data. This trend has several components. First, there’ll be increased data collection from machines (i.e., Internet of Things). Second, there’ll be increased demands for data from third parties, such as vendors and suppliers. Finally, oil and gas firms will invest more heavily in data analytics and intelligence software platforms.

The data analytics trend is already in progress. It’s a question of maximizing value from data. We’re likely to see more data scientists and experts moving to the oil and gas industry as a result.

2. Improve Profits Through Preventive Maintenance

Oil and gas are highly capital-intensive industries with hundreds of billions in annual spending. At the same time, lower oil prices have caused some companies to defer much-needed maintenance. For example, oil infrastructure in the North Sea region of Europe is a major challenge since the infrastructure was installed in the 1970s with a planned life of 25 years.

With a vast array of infrastructure assets to maintain, how do oil and gas firms make smart choices about where to focus their efforts? The answer lies in using preventive maintenance technology. Specifically, companies are leveraging network-connected sensors and analytics to plan maintenance more effectively.

Major technology firms including IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco are playing a role in transforming IoT dreams into reality. Some IoT technologies developed by Cisco go beyond maintenance benefits to improve security as well.

3. Cut Wasted Effort in Oil and Gas Field Services

In 2019, the oil and gas industry is forecast to spend $75 billion on field services, according to IBISWorld. It’s one of the largest costs in the industry. That means any improvement in efficiency will deliver significant savings. Beyond savings, the field services face another problem. As of December 2018, the U.S. unemployment rate was under 4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That means that attracting and retaining high-quality staff will be a major challenge in field services.

What if there was a way to improve efficiency and keep field services staff engaged in their work? It’s possible! Start by looking at ways to eliminate paper forms and other time-consuming administrative steps. Your field services staff members don’t want to spend an hour every day sitting in a truck reviewing papers and then driving back to the head office.

The better way lies in using enterprise digital forms. Specifically, it would help if you had a way to collect data from the field and put it directly into your workflow. That’s the key to saving time and money. With Device Magic, your digital form data can be directly dropped into your workflow. Thanks to mobile forms automation, there’s no more need to retype data or move data between systems.

4. Apply Artificial Intelligence to Expensive Problems

Sorting through a large stack of data is a constant challenge in oil and gas. You receive reports from the field. There are quality data points to consider. You also need to manage data quality issues. It’s a never-ending challenge! Constantly adding analysts and business intelligence professionals to the payroll isn’t a sustainable approach.

In 2019, we’re going to see artificial intelligence come to the rescue in oil and gas. Take the example of addressing concerns raised by environmental groups. Responding to these stakeholders is difficult in the oil and gas industry because there are so many of them. That’s why you should take note of efforts by groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund to use natural language processing (NLP). In 2018, the Fund announced an NLP system to automate obligations related to environmental protection legislation.

5. Increase Use of Autonomous Devices

The increasing consumer adoption of autonomous vehicles matters to the oil and gas industry. In California, there are more than 50 organizations authorized to test autonomous vehicles with a driver as of January 2019. To seize the advantage, reach out to these approved companies and discuss bringing their technology to the oil and gas field. It’s one way to boost productivity in oil and gas that few firms have implemented.

The post How Automation Is Changing the Oil & Gas Industry appeared first on Device Magic.

“We did not know about the problem.”

As a manager in the energy industry, you want to avoid saying that to your peers and the public. When you are unaware of problems and issues in your organization, you may appear incompetent to the public and your peers. Ouch! How do you avoid the embarrassment of being surprised by problems like electrical failures or broken pumps?

Develop Your Personal Management Information System

For years, organizations have invested in information systems to meet financial and regulatory needs. What about the information needs of managers in the energy industry? Excel reports and statistics are helpful, but they are often too far removed from the front lines. So what’s the answer to keeping you informed?

Use digital forms in the energy industry so your front-line employees can keep you informed in real-time. To kick-start your process, here are five suggestions of how digital forms can help to gather better information.

1. Document a Maintenance Problem With Digital Forms

Let’s say you oversee an oil pipeline system in your state. You might have hundreds of miles of pipes and support equipment to monitor. An equipment failure in a remote area could take a long time to identify and fix. To avoid those problems, ask your staff to carry out periodic inspections.

When you see rust or another problem on a pipeline, describing the problem in sufficient detail is difficult. As a manager, you may struggle to decide “is this problem worth preventive maintenance?” Asking your staff to attach photos to preventive maintenance inspection forms makes those decisions easier.

2. Expedite Insurance Claims by Adding Photos

In some states, insurance companies have up to 40 days to acknowledge insurance claims. However, if your claim lacks required documentation, the whole process may take longer.

When a disaster hits your energy company, getting insurance reimbursement quickly matters. While you cannot control how quickly your claims are processed, you can speed up the process on your end.

Create a digital form based on your insurance coverage and documentation requirements. Once that form is created, train your staff to take photos related to the insurance claim. By taking digital images, you have clear evidence showing damage.

Tip: By using mobile forms, you can send form data directly to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and other services. You can set up a dedicated “insurance claims documentation” folder and keep all that information organized.

3. Improve Project Planning

In project management, the time you spend on planning and estimating saves you hours of pain later on. Let’s say you have a project to upgrade monitoring equipment on your pipeline network. To create an accurate budget, you need to collect data on your network’s current state.

To guide your project planning efforts, establish a project planning research form. Direct your staff to head out into the field and take photos of the monitoring equipment you currently have in place. By reviewing these photos, you may find out that only a fraction of your equipment actually needs to be replaced.

This process will also help you to create a database on the condition of equipment for future reference.

Resource: If you are feeling overwhelmed by loose papers and forms in your office, you need to digitize. Find out how to get started: 6 Steps for Reducing Paperwork in the Energy Industry.

4. Satisfy Energy Regulatory Requirements

Keeping up with regulatory requirements in the energy industry is tough. You never know when the government will surprise you with an audit. As a manager, you can still take a proactive approach to keeping regulators satisfied.

How would you know that your energy company is well managed and fulfilling all regulatory requirements for safety and other matters? A digital archive of detailed inspection reports is a good start to demonstrating your diligence.

5. Reduce Customer Service Resolution Time

Customer service failures are inevitable. The real question is what processes you have in place to recover when a problem occurs. In the energy industry, failing to deliver for your customers can’t be taken lightly. Your customers may freeze or be unable to run their business if their energy supply is disrupted.

Collecting data on customer problems is one way to speed up solutions. For example, ask your field staff to submit a problem report on a broken system including detailed descriptions and photos using mobile forms. Once that information is sent back to the head office, your engineers will be better able to diagnose the problem and have it fixed.

The Easy Way to Improve Productivity With Digital Forms

Stop wasting time in endless back and forth email with your team. Use mobile forms for energy industry to streamline your operations. Your staff can attach photos and send reports back from the field in seconds using mobile devices. Even better, you do not have to retype any data into other systems.

The post How to Use Digital Forms to Collect Better Data in the Energy Industry appeared first on Device Magic.

Utility projects require major investments of time and money. What if you could improve productivity by 1% or 5% on a multi-million dollar project? Those benefits will be worth pursuing, especially if you increase your team’s capabilities along the way. Managing your work with digital forms make it possible.

What Barriers Hold Back Project Productivity?

Think about why it is so challenging to boost project productivity. Unlike traditional operations, utility project management involves a level of uncertainty that makes it harder to plan work, and even the best planned projects will be subject to changes and adjustments.

From a staffing perspective, projects also struggle. Aside from a small core project team, project managers usually have to negotiate with other teams to borrow staff. Finally, some projects struggle to make it across the finish line because the organization lacks a robust methodology and training.

3 Practical Examples to Improve Your Utility Project

For this section, we will use the example of a utility upgrading an electrical system in a residential area in a city. In this context, delays in project completion or service interruption will be noticed and reflect poorly on the utility. As a result, we have a strong incentive to improve productivity. Let’s start with the beginning — improving project planning.

1. Improve Project Planning

Taking the time to plan a project’s requirements reduces expensive change requests later. To enhance your utility’s project productivity, use a planning process to gather information such as:

• Similar projects: Data on similar past projects makes it easy to find lessons learned and cost data from previous projects. For example, you may see quotes and invoices from past suppliers that you can use to build your plan.
• Initial stakeholder list: Who has the power to support or hinder your project? Identifying all of those individuals is a critical step in stakeholder management. Remember that essential stakeholders — like residents — may be external to your company.
• Initial risk register: What are the areas of uncertainty that could threaten the project’s success? A few starting ideas include weather, late delivery by suppliers and accidents.
• Identify the project champion: Picture this: you are the project manager, and a significant problem occurs that is “beyond your pay grade” to resolve. How can you move forward? We recommend engaging a project champion, usually an executive, who can clear roadblocks and provide advice as the project unfolds.

Once the project is underway, improve productivity by looking for repeated activities.

2. Improve Repeated Processes

To continue with our example above, upgrading electrical systems in a residential area will involve performing a few activities often. For instance, you may have a testing and safety protocol to verify power connections for each residence.

Streamlining repeated processes on your project will save you time. Before you can make improvements, you need to find improvement opportunities. In essence, you are using the 80/20 Principle to identify the repeated processes that contribute the most value to the project.

Use these steps to improve recurring processes on your project:

• Identify a high-value recurring task on your utility project.
• Ask employees to describe problems that have increased costs with the process in the past. Example: insufficient supplies.
• Ask for photos that illustrate the problem. With a digital form, you can collect photos from the field to take advantage of this feature.
• Ask for improvement suggestions. Get your team involved in coming up with ideas to improve the process.

Once the information starts to roll in, ask your project manager to review the information weekly to see what can be improved.

3. Improve Utility Project Safety

If safety failures occur, the entire team and project’s success will be threatened. Keep everyone safe and on schedule by using a project safety planning form. Consider including the following elements:

• Gather ideas for the project’s safety plan: During the planning phase of the utility project, gather suggestions on how to increase safety performance.
• Identify safety equipment gaps early: Worn out safety equipment and protective clothing is easy to prevent. Consider having staff report the status of their safety equipment on a biweekly or monthly basis.
• Carry out random safety inspections: Like them or hate them, random safety checks are an excellent way to keep safety standards higher. Be sure to document the results of your inspection.

Ready to make your data collection fast and efficient? See how mobile forms can help improve your utility operations.

The post 3 Practical Strategies for Improving Utility Project Effectiveness appeared first on Device Magic.

Every year, managers and regulators push more forms, reports and other paperwork onto the natural gas industry. Keeping up with these requirements quickly starts to feel overwhelming. You know these requirements have to be met, but how can you do it without using up your entire workday?

1. Change the Questions and Fields on Your Forms

Some fields on forms are harder to complete than others. To take a simple example, a form that requires you to write “California” rather than “CA” in the state field is inefficient. Just making a form easier to complete will lead to a boost in productivity and compliance.

Here are some other ways you can improve a form’s design and make it easier to complete:

• Use more tick boxes: Instead of asking people to describe the problem, you can use tick boxes instead (e.g., “check off the areas of the facility that have been inspected”)
• Delete questions from the form: Sometimes the most natural solution is to cut material from the form.
• Define technical language and acronyms: Consider adding a short definitions section to the beginning of your form to reduce confusion.

2. Reduce Your Natural Gas Forms

To save time, working harder is not always the best approach. As Tim Ferriss explains in his productivity book The Four Hour Workweek, elimination of low-value tasks is a critical way to improve productivity. Make sure your data collection process is efficient by evaluating your forms and determining if any steps can be eliminated.

Ask your team these questions:

• Which forms do you get the most calls and emails about? That feedback indicates that the form is being read and acted on.
• Which forms cause the most questions in your team? If you regularly have to stop work to answer questions, that is a good sign the form is confusing. You can either fix it or get rid of it.

3. Digitize Your Data Collection Process

Filling in paper forms is a time-consuming way to gather necessary data in the natural gas industry. You may also be adding a new data collection process or component to your workflow. A mobile forms solution can digitize your data collection and eliminate paperwork by allowing your team to easily collect the data on their mobile devices.

Even better, your head office and other departments do not have to wait for digital forms to arrive from the field. If you are struggling with complaints about slow service, digital forms are one excellent way to save time.

Tip: Read our tips on how to use digital forms to achieve your continuous improvement goals. After all, if you save a few hours per week on completing forms, you will have more capacity to take on other projects.

4. Pre-Populate Your Forms With Commonly Used Information

The blank page is one of the greatest problems with traditional paper forms. Each time, you have to enter your location, name and other standard information. You can save time by using smart digital forms that have pre-filled data. Use drop-down menus to simplify the following aspects of your natural gas forms:

• Equipment Impacted: If frontline staff happen to report the wrong machine number on a form, it can cause major confusion or delays. Avoid this problem by creating a list of the 10-20 most common machines and devices in your organization. You can always include “Other” as an option to cover other circumstances.
• Location List: If you only have locations in five states, enter those states into a list so your staff does not have to enter them each time.
• Priority Rating: If you use forms to report problems, you may want to add a form section to rank natural gas problems by priority.

5. Show How Your Natural Gas Forms Are Used by Others

In some cases, lack of motivation and understanding discourage staff from completing forms. Here are a few ways to show how timely, accurate forms add value:

• Customer Satisfaction: By collecting detailed information on malfunctions and customer complaints, the company is better able to address their problems. That means no upset customers are complaining on social media or seeking an alternate supplier.
• Improve Safety: In 2016, New Jersey fined a natural gas company for safety violations that led to an explosion. By thoroughly using safety forms, these problems are less likely to occur.
• Reduce Rework: Have you ever been asked to fill in a form a second time because you made a mistake? It is a frustrating experience. By adopting digital forms, rework will be less likely.

How Will You Improve Your Natural Gas Company This Year?

Installing new pipelines and other natural gas infrastructure add value. Unfortunately, those improvements are costly. If you are looking for another way to boost productivity, just put digital forms in place. You will get better information to make decisions and reduce rework.

Ready to make mobile forms a solution for your business? Learn how they can help.

The post Natural Gas Data Collection: 5 Methods to Boost Your Results appeared first on Device Magic.