In recent years, high-risk industries have accelerated their investment in digital tools, safety systems, and compliance technologies. Yet one critical blind spot remains: the inability to verify in real-time whether frontline work is executed as intended. This uncertainty—the fog between intent and reality—is what we define as Operational Uncertainty. At the root of it lies a deeper systemic challenge: the Execution Gap—the disconnect between written procedures and actual field behavior.
As Dr. Trevor Kletz famously observed, “Organizations don’t have memory—people do, and then people retire.” This loss of institutional knowledge contributes to the recurrence of similar incidents over time. Our framework addresses this challenge directly by combining Verification of Work (VoW) with AI-assisted insight to not only confirm what’s being done in the field but to capture and institutionalize how work is performed. In doing so, we transform human experience into organizational intelligence—preserving operational memory and reducing repeat errors over time.
This presentation introduces a new operational philosophy: Operational Assurance, grounded in a human-centered framework for verifying field execution and learning from it continuously. It repositions real-time work validation from a compliance mechanism to a strategic asset—one that strengthens safety, supports competency, and unlocks the wisdom embedded in frontline adaptation.
The Three Pillars of Operational Assurance
1. Real-time Work Verification: Instead of relying on retrospective audits, this framework embeds Verification of Work into everyday operations. Leaders can confirm that critical tasks align with procedures as they happen. This transforms Assurance from a lagging KPI into a live signal of performance fidelity and risk posture.
2. Institutional Knowledge Capture: Traditional systems capture what should happen. VoW captures what actually happens—step by step, shift by shift. Combined with AI-driven analysis, this creates a dynamic memory of how work is truly performed across teams and conditions.
3. Empowering Frontline Innovation: We believe the best process improvements don’t start in boardrooms—they start in the field. Operators often see inefficiencies or risks that are invisible at higher levels. Our model provides them with a structured way to provide feedback on insights in real-time, making them integral to the operational process and valued for their contributions.
Why It Matters
Operational Assurance addresses several longstanding problems:
- The Execution Gap exposes organizations to invisible risk. VoW makes that drift measurable and correctable.
- Operational Uncertainty undermines leadership decision-making. Operational Assurance replaces assumptions with verified insight.
- The loss of institutional memory compounds risk over time. VoW and AI capture and preserve operational wisdom.
- Lagging indicators limit proactive action. Operational Assurance provides key indicators, including task conformance, competency alignment, and deviation trends.
Field-Tested Results
Deployments in several oil and gas environments have demonstrated decisive early wins:
- Prevention of misoperations during high-risk tasks due to real-time verification.
- Procedure redesigns triggered by consistent deviation behaviors across shifts.
- Empowered crews contributing insights at the point of execution.
- Audit automation leading to richer compliance data and reduced manual overhead.
Cultural Implications
This approach shifts safety from enforcement to empowerment. Key enablers include:
- Co-designing procedures with the frontline.
- Framing deviations as learning signals.
- Supporting supervisors as coaches, not inspectors.
- Making it easy and safe for workers to submit feedback.
Roadmap for Implementation
The Operational Assurance framework is designed to be simple, scalable, and applicable across both brownfield and greenfield operations. Organizations can begin with their existing procedures and evolve toward real-time Assurance using a clear three-step approach:
1. Digitize: Structure existing procedures into a digital format without changing their logic.
2. Verify: Enable field-level confirmation that tasks are executed as intended.
3. Analyze: Use dashboards to surface patterns, deviations, and insights.
This model applies across sectors:
- Chemical processing: critical isolation and startup tasks
- Manufacturing: changeovers, maintenance, quality assurance
- Utilities: inspections, confined space entry, switching operations
Wherever work as imagined may diverge from work as done, Operational Assurance closes the gap.
Takeaways for Attendees
Attendees will gain:
- A modern framework integrating human factors into live work execution.
- Real-world examples of frontline learning loops.
- A strategy for eliminating Operational Uncertainty by addressing the Execution Gap.
- Guidance for culturally aware implementation.
- A vision for converting compliance into institutional intelligence and continuous improvement.