Application of Mind Maps to Classify and Recall Potential Hazards

Applying mind-mapping to planning and executing workplace activities could provide a means of reducing errors in common tasks such as welding/cutting, filling/emptying tanks and confined space entry. Trevor Kletz, one of the “founding fathers” of process safety engineering (Vechot et al, 2014), emphasizes the inability of organizations and individuals to learn from past mistakes in his final book, “What Went Wrong?: Case Histories of Process Plant Disasters and How They Could Have Been Avoided, 5^th ed. (2009)”. Due to the complexity of both human and organizational behavior, finding a solution to previous mistakes has been an immense challenge for many companies. As a result, more effective methods to increase individual and organizational learning are needed. Mind-mapping appears to offer a means to organize and and assist in the recall of hazards that have resulted in previous incidents.

This paper describes a methodology for examining previous incidents pertaining to certain common tasks. The emphasis in this effort is to help identify hazards that are hidden from view, and/or not normally encountered and to organize them in a way that is easy to recall or identify. Applying this method can improve procedures and work permits, as well as training and as a check by those directly involved before undertaking a hazardous task.