Place-Keeping: Know Where to Resume

Human Performance weekly series: lesson 10 of 52.

A 5–10 minute crew discussion, plus time to verify the actual controls. The crew talk and Word version are public. Separate supervisor and attendance records are included with free Safety & Systems membership.

Why this matters

An unfinished step can look finished after a phone call, a delay or a handoff. A reliable place record distinguishes what is complete, what is underway and what remains. It helps the next decision, but it does not prove the physical work is correct. The record and the actual task state must agree.

Learning objective

Use the procedure’s approved completion marks and resolve a partly completed or uncertain step before selecting the next action.

Key hazards or failure points

Signing ahead; marking several steps from memory; omitted substeps; unrecorded branches; copied initials; unreadable corrections; two inconsistent working copies; repeating an action because its status is unclear.

Practical controls

• Use the current authorized procedure and its required place-keeping method. Know what counts as complete, including required results or checks. A bookmark or cursor position alone may not establish completion.
• Record completion at the prescribed point after the required work and checks. Keep incomplete, in-progress or not-applicable status distinct under the approved process. Do not invent marks that the next person cannot interpret.
• After interruption or handoff, reconcile the recorded position with the actual task state using the authorized safe method. Preserve discrepancies and obtain required help before choosing a restart point.

Verify It in the Field

• Use a training copy of a short task with several parts and no hazardous action. Ask the worker to demonstrate when completion is recorded and how an unfinished part is shown. Compare the marks with the approved rules; do not mark a live record as a practice exercise.
• Pause the paper exercise during a step, then ask another person to identify what is complete, what remains uncertain and the proposed next step. Resolve different interpretations through the procedure. Record the actual ambiguity and improvement owner rather than scoring the worker’s memory.
• For real work, the authorized person compares one selected completion entry with its required evidence through a safe check. Record the procedure/revision, step, evidence, checker and time. Keep the affected sequence held if the entry and actual condition disagree.

Stop and reassess

Pause for an uncertain last completed step, a missing required result, inconsistent records or a changed instruction. Do not repeat, skip or backfill a step to make the sheet look complete. The responsible authority resolves the status and required rechecks before restart.

Crew discussion questions

• What must be true before this step can be marked complete?
• How do we show a partly completed step?
• Who resolves a difference between the record and the actual condition?

For each required control, record its acceptance source and criterion, safe verification method, responsible checker, actual result and time. Use VERIFIED, HOLD/NOT VERIFIED, or N/A with a reason. A tick alone is not evidence. Complete all applicable task inspections; do not enter danger or improvise a test to fill out a form.

Leader preparation and practical detail

A completion mark belongs to the whole required step

Illustrative situation: one procedure line contains an action followed by a required result check. A worker initials the line after the action, expecting to complete the check later. An interruption then makes the line appear finished. Use the procedure’s actual completion rule and raise a usability problem if the form does not allow the required status to be represented clearly. Do not solve the problem by adding an informal mark that other users will mistake for final completion.

Do not repair uncertainty by repeating the work

Illustrative situation: after a handoff, the record does not establish whether a particular action occurred. Repeating it may be harmless in one task and hazardous in another. Maintain the prescribed safe condition and involve the role authorized to reconcile equipment status, records and instruction requirements. The resulting decision may require a specified recheck or revised work authorization. This lesson intentionally gives no universal rule to restart at the previous step or redo everything.

Improve the record without rewriting the procedure in the field

Illustrative situation: workers keep losing their place because a branch instruction and its completion field are on different pages. Capture the difficulty and have the procedure owner review the layout with users. Preserve the current authorized method until a change is approved. HSE’s procedure guidance supports formats suited to the user and task, while warning against overreliance on paperwork. A clearer record supports performance; it does not replace technical safeguards, competence or independent verification required by the work.

Short supervisor field check

• Current procedure/revision and approved marking method available.
• Required substeps, results and completion points understood.
• Incomplete status stays visible without signing ahead or batch completion.
• Interruption/handoff rehearsal gives an unambiguous status or a clear hold.
• Actual evidence agrees with the record; discrepancies and restart authority documented.

Confirm the relevant trained/authorized people, unresolved items, interim protection, correction owner and recheck. Record required release authority and rebrief anyone affected. The separate sheet supports these records; it does not replace a specialist inspection, permit or engineering determination.

Attendance and follow-through

Use the separate attendance sheet for participants, roles, discussion concerns, actions and late-arrival rebriefs. Attendance is not proof of competence, functioning controls or authorization to work. Keep completed records private under employer procedures.

Source acknowledgment

This resource draws on the U.S. Department of Energy’s DOE-HDBK-1028-2009, Human Performance Improvement Handbook, Volume 2 (June 2009). Todd Jerome Jenkins makes no claim of authorship or copyright ownership in the original U.S. Government work. New explanations, examples, exercises and layouts are Todd Jerome Jenkins adaptations. No endorsement by DOE or the U.S. Government is implied. Third-party material credited in the handbook remains attributed to its source; this notice does not claim rights in that material.

Source excerpt: Volume 2/VOLUME 2 PLACE-KEEPING.pdf; Printed pp. 29, 30. The June 2009 handbook supplies concepts; this lesson uses original explanations and exercises.

Technical scope and references

References reviewed October 9, 2026. DOE human-performance tools and OSHA recommended practices support preparation and discussion; they do not establish universal technical acceptance criteria. Apply the current task procedure, manufacturer instructions, permit and required competent or qualified decisions. A successful exercise does not replace required training, technical verification or work authorization.

1. DOE-HDBK-1028-2009, Volume 2 — Place-Keeping, printed pp. 29–30 — June 2009 illustrative method source. Historic marking examples are not permission to alter controlled procedures; current site marking and restart rules govern.
2. HSE — Procedures — Current UK regulator guidance on usable procedure design, management and limitations; not a U.S. technical acceptance requirement.

Connect this discussion to your JHA/JSA

Use the JHA/JSA planning and field-verification worksheet to record the actual task steps, hazards, responsible roles and controls. No task-specific worked example is linked for this topic yet. Return to What Changed Today? when the plan or conditions change.

Related Todd Jerome Jenkins articles: How to Conduct a Job Safety Analysis and What Is Human and Organizational Performance?.

Related crew discussions

• Pre Job Jha Jsa
• Human Performance Pre Job Check

Continue the weekly series

• Lesson 9: Protect the Critical Step from Interruptions

Put one check into practice

Use the free JHA/JSA planning and field-verification worksheet to record today’s change, the required protection and the evidence needed before exposure.

Next weekly lesson

Lesson 11: Procedure Use: Stop When the Instructions Do Not Fit