Protocol
Recheck the safeguard after the workflow changes
A control can stay documented after the situation it controlled has moved on.
When it fits
- A tool, interface, volume, staffing model, dependency or workflow changes but existing controls are assumed to remain valid.
When to avoid it
- Do not retest every control after a cosmetic edit. Scope the review to changes that can alter inputs, sequence, authority, visibility, workload or failure consequences.
Why it matters
Treat a material process change as a reason to re-run the relevant failure paths. Verify that the old safeguard still triggers, still sees the right data, remains usable under the new load and does not create a new bypass. Review actual workarounds and early signals after the change instead of assuming the previous design transferred intact.
Steps
- Name the safeguards the change depends on.
- Exercise or inspect each safeguard in the new path.
- Check whether users now bypass or duplicate it.
- Review leading signals for unexpected movement.
- Update, replace or retire controls that no longer protect the intended failure mode.
An example
A new UI moves a critical identifier to a different step. Recheck the validation and review path rather than assuming the old control still sees the field at the right time.
Check your result
Each material safeguard has current evidence that it still operates on the changed path, or a recorded decision to replace it.
Keep this limit in mind
- Do not retest every control after a cosmetic edit. Scope the review to changes that can alter inputs, sequence, authority, visibility, workload or failure consequences.
Evidence and sources
AHRQ safety-engineering guidance recommends combining prospective and retrospective analysis with ongoing surveillance, and notes that workarounds can signal that a process is not functioning well.
The guidance is written for healthcare systems; transfer to knowledge work is at the general system-design level.
Engineering Safe Practices Affinity Group · Strategy 1 rationale and opportunities
OSHA distinguishes leading indicators that reveal preventive activity or emerging problems from lagging indicators that measure outcomes that already occurred, and recommends using both.
A metric is not useful merely because it is early; it still needs to be specific, interpretable and connected to a decision.
Leading Indicators · Leading Indicators overview