Descon Oxychem: Task management and issue tracking on SharePoint

Safety actions, tracked to closure.

We customised a Task Management and Issue Tracking System on SharePoint Online for Descon Oxychem Limited, bringing seven safety and operational workflows into one action-item lifecycle inside the client's existing Microsoft 365 environment.

Industrial operations / HSE
Software development
Workflow automation
Project

7custom workflow families

2levels of extension approval

The Challenge

What stood in the way.

Action items at Descon came from many sources, each with its own owners, approvals and deadlines. The project needed one system that could link every action to its originating record, its responsible department and its status

Disconnected action sources

Actions originated from risk assessments, audits, meetings, incidents, complaints, safety observations and pre-startup checks, with no common place to track them.

Complex ownership and approvals

HSE, relevant departments, line managers and the Works Manager were all involved. Extensions, reassignment

Time-sensitive safety processes

Risk-rated follow-up dates, pre- and post-commissioning actions, and short- versus long-term safety-critical defeats each called for structured capture and different…

Limited management visibility

Without a common process structure, monitoring pending work and spotting ownership bottlenecks across workflows was difficult.

Our Solution

How we answered it.

We translated Descon's own workflow diagrams into a SharePoint-centred task and issue management environment. Rather than treating each process as a separate application, the design brings specialised source modules into a shared action-item lifecycle

ProblemSeven processes had different rules but needed one way to track actions.
Our answerWe built a shared action-item structure in which users select an action-item source and link the action to a specific record, such as a meeting, PSSR, complaint or incident.
ProblemOverdue or rescheduled commitments needed controlled escalation.
Our answerWe applied a standard extension model across the workflows: the line manager approves a first extension and the Works Manager a second
ProblemInvestigation deadlines differed by who owned the investigation.
Our answerThe system applies documented deadlines of two days for individual investigations and fourteen days for team investigations, with HSE approval, progress notifications and closure requests.
ProblemResponsibility for accepting completed work had to be explicit.
Our answerDepartment-change requests, approval-backed closure and automatic closure of parent records when their child actions complete make it clear who signs off each piece of work.

How It Works

The parts that made the difference.

Risk assessment and PHA

Assessments route through HSE to the relevant department, which raises risk-rated action items with target dates set by the risk rating.

Meeting minutes and actions

Saving a meeting emails attendees and creates a Microsoft Teams invitation in their Outlook calendars. Minutes generate action items, and the meeting can close once all its actions are closed.

Behaviour-based safety and management audits

Observations logged by authorised managers are routed by HSE to the concerned department, giving every observation a defined path to corrective action.

Incident reporting and investigation

Incidents are risk-classified: high-risk events go to individual or team investigation and root-cause analysis, while lower-risk issues go to the responsible department. Incident reports can be requested and delivered by email.

Results

What changed for the client.

The system gives Descon a structured, documented way to manage safety-related actions from capture to validated closure. The outcomes are functional rather than quantified

A common location to register and manage safety-related tasks and operational issues across multiple source processes
Clearer routing of actions to responsible departments and defined approvers
Built-in notifications for meetings, record creation, reassignment, approval and closure
A consistent framework for deadline extensions, escalation, investigation and validation
Source-linked action tracking that shows why each item exists and which process it belongs to
Simpler access to records through web-based lists, timelines, incident-report requests and Excel or CSV exports