Investigating a new classification to describe the differences between Work-As-Imagined and Work-As-Done

Abstract

Standard operating procedures are vital in maintaining safe operations in high-risk industries such as the petrochemical industry. Despite significant safety management improvement, most incidents in these industries often attribute deviation or non-compliance with procedural steps as a causal factor. Even though workers do not always follow the exact procedure steps when performing their tasks, very few studies investigate the discrepancies between Work As Imagined (WAI) and Work As Done (WAD), particularly under normal working conditions. This study aims to identify and quantify the differences between WAI and WAD while conducting procedural tasks by operationalizing a coding framework. An actual work environment in a petrochemical facility was used to apply the framework to help decide if WAI aligns with WAD. Finally, a classification scheme is proposed and discussed to explain why workers do what they do during their routine work.