Navigating operating procedures in everyday work in a petrochemical facility: A comparative analysis of WAI and WAD

Abstract

This study proposes a novel coding framework to quantify and categorize the differences between Work-As-Imagined (WAI) and Work-As-Done (WAD) based on the Safety-II perspective. While the Safety-I approach focuses on controlling deviations from Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as the solution to prevent incidents, this framework aims to describe and code workers’ adaptive behavior while executing their tasks. The proposed framework checks three attributes for each step; “Skip,” “Order,” and “Action” to help decide if WAI aligns with WAD. The framework was tested by applying it to an actual work environment in a petrochemical facility. Initial findings successfully demonstrated the ability of the framework to describe the differences between WAI and WAD.