Unfamiliar Work: Prepare the Question for the Right Expert

Human Performance weekly series: lesson 46 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

Getting help requires the right person and a clear question. For unfamiliar work, explain what is known, what remains uncertain and which action must wait. Experience on another system may not answer this question.

Learning objective

Prepare a useful technical consultation and confirm that its answer applies to the actual work before relying on it.

Key hazards or failure points

Asking a vague question; advice based on the wrong configuration; experience mistaken for authorization; unsupported assumptions; remote help without enough information; trial-and-error action before the review.

Practical controls

• State the unresolved question and affected step. Separate observations from assumptions. Identify the equipment, configuration, current instruction and information already available without gathering evidence through unsafe access or operation.
• Use the site’s route to the person qualified and authorized for this question. Confirm the scope of their expertise and who can approve the resulting work method. Maintain the task’s required protection while awaiting help.
• Have the answer identify its basis, limits and any further information needed. Route changes through the applicable approval process. Brief affected workers on the approved method, control checks and remaining restrictions.

Verify It in the Field

• Before contacting help, ask a crew member to summarize the question from the prepared notes. Check that the item identity, observed condition and unknown fact are clear. Record missing information and its safe collection owner; do not fill a gap with a guess.
• Confirm the assigned specialist has received the relevant current documents and understands the actual question. Record their role, scope and response status. A forwarded message or appointment does not establish that the issue has been assessed.
• When guidance arrives, compare its stated assumptions with the actual work. Have designated people complete the prescribed safe control checks against the governing criteria. Record actual findings, checker and time, then obtain required authorization; advice alone does not release the task.

Stop and reassess

Keep affected work held when the right expertise is unavailable, the question remains unresolved or the answer depends on unverified facts. Escalate through the site process. Do not experiment, bypass protection or treat a general example as approval for the actual equipment.

Crew discussion questions

• What exact question needs expertise beyond this crew?
• Who can answer it and who authorizes the method?
• Which assumption in the answer needs field evidence?

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

Send a question that can be answered

Illustrative situation: a request asks whether a replacement arrangement is acceptable but omits the equipment identity and the part of the task that has changed. The specialist cannot judge applicability from that description. The leader gathers available controlled information and clearly marks any unknowns. Photos or observations are obtained only through allowed safe access. The consultation should establish what decision is needed, what protection remains in place and what information the specialist requires.

Expert advice has a scope

A person can be highly experienced and still lack the relevant knowledge or authorization for this particular system. The organization identifies the appropriate technical, manufacturer or other qualified resource and the required decision authority. State law, applicable OSHA provisions, manufacturer requirements and employer procedures may specify roles for the actual task; this general lesson does not appoint a competent or qualified person. Nor does a successful discussion demonstrate that a worker is trained to carry out the revised method.

Check the assumptions before using the answer

Illustrative situation: remote guidance assumes a configuration that the installed equipment does not match. Treat that difference as an unresolved consultation, even if the response is confident. Return the actual facts to the specialist and maintain the applicable hold. Pause When Unsure explains holding and releasing work; this lesson concentrates on preparing, routing and evaluating the technical question. The DOE discussion is a conceptual source, not a prediction that unfamiliar work has a particular error probability.

Short supervisor field check

• Question, affected step, observed facts and uncertainty recorded separately.
• Current identity, configuration and documents reach the specialist.
• Relevant competence, authorization and approval roles confirmed.
• Answer basis and assumptions checked against actual work.
• Required controls, crew briefing and release completed with evidence.

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 1 (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 1/VOLUME 1 CHAPTER 2-REDUCING ERROR.pdf; Printed pp. 2-25, 2-26, 2-27. 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 1 — Chapter 2, printed pp. 2-25–2-27 — June 2009 conceptual discussion of unfamiliar situations, information gaps and collaboration; fixed memory limits, error probabilities and universal retraining claims excluded.
2. OSHA — Hazard Prevention and Control — Recommended practices on consulting appropriate expertise and preparing controls for nonroutine work.
3. OSHA — Education and Training — Recommended practices on role-specific knowledge, questions, additional training and changed or newly assigned tasks.

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

• Pause When Unsure: Make the Restart Clear
• Technical Task Briefing: Clarify the Deliverable Before Work

Continue the weekly series

• Lesson 45: The Right Rule: Check the Conditions Before Choosing a Branch
• Lesson 47: Competing Assignments: Agree What Comes First

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.