A method for conducting a partial stroke test of an emergency shutdown valve, the method comprising: generating a wireless mesh network having wireless network nodes including a portable communication device (120, 300) and the emergency shutdown valve, the portable communication device (120, 300) and the emergency shutdown valve communicating with one another exclusively via the wireless mesh network to conduct the partial stroke test via a wireless communication link; receiving, at the portable communication device (120, 300), a request to initiate the partial stroke test; establishing the wireless communication link between the portable communication device (120, 300) and the emergency shutdown valve; generating a set of one or more commands, within the portable communication device (120, 300), to initiate the partial stroke test, wherein the set of commands is consistent with a digital industrial automation protocol, transmitting the set of commands from the portable communication device (120, 300) to the emergency shutdown valve via the wireless communication link, wherein the emergency shutdown valve is not configured to receive commands to initiate the partial stroke test via a wired connection without utilizing the wireless communication link; receiving, from the emergency shutdown valve, (i) positioning data indicative of multiple positions of the emergency shutdown valve during execution of the partial stroke test, and (ii) a result of the partial stroke test; generating timestamps corresponding to the multiple positions of the emergency shutdown valve during the partial stroke test based upon the positioning data; and generating a history of results from a plurality of executed partial stroke tests and their corresponding positioning data utilizing the timestamp associated with each of the plurality of executed partial stroke tests. generating a wireless mesh network having wireless network nodes including a portable communication device (120, 300) and the emergency shutdown valve, the portable communication device (120, 300) and the emergency shutdown valve communicating with one another exclusively via the wireless mesh network to conduct the partial stroke test via a wireless communication link; receiving, at the portable communication device (120, 300), a request to initiate the partial stroke test; establishing the wireless communication link between the portable communication device (120, 300) and the emergency shutdown valve; generating a set of one or more commands, within the portable communication device (120, 300), to initiate the partial stroke test, wherein the set of commands is consistent with a digital industrial automation protocol, transmitting the set of commands from the portable communication device (120, 300) to the emergency shutdown valve via the wireless communication link, wherein the emergency shutdown valve is not configured to receive commands to initiate the partial stroke test via a wired connection without utilizing the wireless communication link; receiving, from the emergency shutdown valve, (i) positioning data indicative of multiple positions of the emergency shutdown valve during execution of the partial stroke test, and (ii) a result of the partial stroke test; generating timestamps corresponding to the multiple positions of the emergency shutdown valve during the partial stroke test based upon the positioning data; and generating a history of results from a plurality of executed partial stroke tests and their corresponding positioning data utilizing the timestamp associated with each of the plurality of executed partial stroke tests.