WorkflowProduction Operations & Oil Sands

Tailings Dam Safety

Tailings dam safety software that pins each finding where it sits on the dyke and catches the one that comes back in new words every year.

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Follow one foundation finding to a funded action ↓

The problem

The same tailings dam safety finding, written seven different ways

The engineer of record sends a long report on each dyke every year, the inspectors walk it every quarter, and the review board meets twice a year. Someone copies the findings into a register, one report at a time. Slightly higher one year, a little above the next: the register cannot tell it is the same finding.

So a finding is closed on work that was not what was asked, comes back as new, and is closed again. Accepted risks get renewed as a list. When the executive finally hears about it, nobody can lay out what each report said or what the closure rested on.

Built forResponsible engineersAccountable executivesDam inspectorsInternal auditors

The Problem Today

Dam findings return each year in new words, and a register that reads one report at a time never sees it.

3 years: at most between tailings risk assessments under the standard published
657 h: to read one mine's 11 years of dam reports once, by hand our estimate

Read and logged by hand today

Engineer
Inspections
Reviews
Board

Closed, not answeredEvidence does something, but not what was asked
Risk renewed as a listAccepted risk is signed again without a re-check

The Solution

Pinned on the dykeEach finding read with its passage and placed at its zone on the section
Same finding, new wordsRepeats found across years, with the instrument readings for each year
Closure checkedEvidence tested against what the finding asked, before anyone signs
Raised by nameRepeats and accepted risk go to the accountable executive, with a clock

Built-in controls

A second person signs every closure
Agents never say a dam is safe
Accepted risk signed by the executive, by name

What You Get

The responsible engineer closes what was asked, and the executive funds the findings that keep coming back.

Closed, then back againFindings that were closed before and returned, shown as such
Readings beside findingsEach year's piezometer level next to what the report said
Evidence ready to exportEach finding with its passage, decision and signer

One finding, start to signature

A tailings dam safety finding that seven yearly reports kept raising

A dam inspector has proposed closing a foundation pressure finding on Dyke 3, 58 m high and active. Here is what the responsible engineer and the accountable executive see before anyone signs it.

demoThe mine, its dykes, its engineers and all the readings are sample data.

01Morning
23 open findings drawn where they sit on Dyke 3
Responsible tailings facility engineer
The dyke is drawn to its own shape: crest, beach and pond, benches, toe berm and drain, the foundation layers and the instruments. Each open finding is a pin at its zone, bigger for each year it has stayed open, ringed when it repeats. At the top of his list, an inspector's closure that the evidence check says does not answer what was asked.
02Morning
Four serious findings in the foundation, one of them open eight years
Responsible tailings facility engineer
He narrows the drawing to the foundation. Four open, all serious: an inclinometer showing movement at the top of the weak clay layer, a replacement still outstanding, the board asking about strength tests, and foundation pressure at the piezometer under the toe berm, still rising. That last pin sits beside its instrument, labeled at 298.2 m, yellow.
03Morning
Up 3.1 m in October readings since 2019, past the model and past yellow
Responsible tailings facility engineer
The trend lays every October reading against the engineer of record's levels: the 297.5 m the stability model assumed, yellow at 298.0, red at 298.5, and the berm surface at 298.6. This year's 298.2 m is 138.3 kPa at the tip. The levels come from the operations manual; agents do not set or move them.
04Late morning
Seven engineer of record reports, four not logged, two closed wrongly
Responsible tailings facility engineer
The repeat finder matches by place and meaning rather than wording. It lays out each year's sentence beside the piezometer and inclinometer for that year and how the sentence was logged. Four were not logged. One was closed when monthly reads started, another as to be reviewed next year. The newest asks for a stability reassessment of the section.
05Late morning
A confirmed reading is not a stability reassessment
Responsible tailings facility engineer
The inspector's closure says the logger and cable were checked and a manual dip read the same level. Her evidence fails the check: it proves the reading is real, which makes the reassessment more urgent. A second hold comes from the trigger rule, since no closure can be signed while the piezometer is above yellow.
06Before noon
He stops the closure and raises a $263,000 action
Responsible tailings facility engineer
He stops the inspector's closure with a reason she will read in her own queue, then raises the finding to the accountable executive by name. The funded action he wrote: a reassessment by the engineer of record, two new foundation piezometers, daily review of the logger data by him, and Pond 3 held at or below 346.6 m until the reassessment is accepted.
07Same day
Signing stays off until she opens the passages and the trends
Accountable executive
The raise lands on her desk with a clock of 10 working days. She reads why it came: the finding sits in seven reports and was closed twice without the work it asked for. The sign button reads 0 of 2 opened. She can also send it back, with a reason, if the plan is weak.
08Same day
She reads each year's sentence before she funds the work
Accountable executive
The seven passages open as one table: what each report said, how it was logged, and the piezometer and inclinometer readings that year, with how closely the repeat finder matched each one. She then opens the two trends. Nothing she signs rests on a summary she did not read.
09After signing
Her signature on the trail, after each item she opened
Internal auditor
In order on the trail: the executive opened the seven passages, then the trends, then signed the funded action and the Pond 3 hold. The escalation router told the responsible engineer and the engineer of record when the reassessment is due. Until that reassessment is accepted, the finding itself stays open.

One foundation finding across seven yearly reports

What each report said, how the register logged it, and the piezometer level that year.

Report	What it said	How it was logged	Piezometer
First	Slightly higher than last year	Not logged	295.1 m
Second	A little above earlier years	Not logged	295.3 m
Third	Rose 0.4 m, read it monthly	Closed: monthly reads started	295.7 m
Fourth	Not yet responded as expected	Not logged	296.2 m
Fifth	Higher than in prior years	Closed: to be reviewed next year	296.9 m
Sixth	Above the level used in the stability analysis	Not logged	297.6 m
Seventh	Continues to rise; reassess stability	Open	298.2 m

demoSample data, from the working solution. Neither closure did what the reports asked, so the finding came back each time.

What the executive funds while the finding stays open

The action the responsible engineer wrote, line by line.

Stability reassessment by the engineer of record	$186,000
Two new foundation piezometers in the toe berm$38,500 each	$77,000
Daily review of the logger data by the responsible engineer	no added cost
Pond 3 held at or below 346.6 m until the reassessment is accepted	operating hold
Total	$263,000

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the dykes

Dam safety findings across four dykes, the board and the inspectors

Six screens the rest of the tailings team works from.

List of findings repeating across reports on four dykes, with never-logged counts and closed-then-returned flags — **Fourteen repeat chains**Each chain says how many reports, how many statements were not logged, and whether it was closed before and came back. A second person confirms each chain.

Cross-section of Dyke 2 with 19 open findings by zone and the most pressing open item from each source — **Dyke 2, drawn the same way**The tallest dyke, 19 open findings, with what the engineer of record, the last review, the board and the inspectors most pressingly left open.

Accepted risk register review with three changed risks to decide and five sampled risks to open before renewal — **Accepted risk review**49 risks: 3 changed since last year are decided one by one. The 46 unchanged renew only after 5 picked at random are opened.

Independent review board questions, responses and meetings, each question tracked as a finding with an owner — **The review board**The board asks and does not decide. Its questions are findings with an owner, and the secretary records whether it agrees with each response.

Tailings facility inspection and review reports read by dyke and year, with held, expected and late reports listed — **Reports read**232 reports across 11 years, by dyke. Held photo pages, an expected review and inspections not yet walked are listed as gaps.

Dam inspector's queue with a field check of the engineer's closure and the reason her own closure was stopped — **The inspector's queue**She field-checks the responsible engineer's own closures, because he cannot sign his own, and sees why her closure on the foundation finding was stopped.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

No agent says a dyke is safe, closes a finding or moves a trigger level

Agents read, match, pin and check. These stay with named people.

A repeat chain is confirmed by peopleThe repeat finder lays the passages side by side. The responsible engineer confirms, and a second person countersigns.

Closure needs a second signerThe responsible engineer's serious closures go to the executive, his routine ones to the inspector, and hers to him.

Above yellow, nothing closesA finding tied to an instrument above its yellow level cannot be closed or accepted while it stays there.

Trigger levels are not the software'sThey are the engineer of record's, read from the operations manual.

Conformance is never claimedFindings and decisions are mapped to the customer's own loaded copy of the standard. The product shows what was done.

Where eleven years of dyke findings come from

Each source is read in place and cited to its page.

Engineer of record annual reportsOne for each dyke, each year

Quarterly dam inspectionsThe inspectors' walk reports and photos

Dam safety reviewsPeriodic independent reviews of each dyke

Review board minutesQuestions, responses and rulings

Instrument data systemPiezometers, inclinometers, weirs and pond levels

Maintenance and fundingWork orders and the funded actions behind them

Who proposes, who countersigns and who accepts the risk

Each closure carries two names, and the executive signs what rests on risk.

Responsible tailings facility engineer

Sees: Each dyke's pins, the repeat chains and the instruments
Signs: The inspector's closures, and raises repeats with a funded action

Accountable executive

Sees: The passages and trends behind each raise, opened before signing
Signs: Funded actions, accepted risk and any change to the repeat rule

Dam inspector

Sees: Her field checks and why a closure was stopped
Signs: Field checks of the responsible engineer's own closures

Review board secretary

Sees: The board's questions and the responses
Signs: Records whether the board agrees, with its reason

Internal auditor

Sees: Everything, without a single write control
Signs: No signature; exports the trail as a file

What tailings engineers and executives ask about tailings dam safety

What is tailings dam safety software for?

Tailings dam safety work turns on findings: what the engineer of record, inspectors, dam safety reviews and the review board asked for. This product reads every report, pins each finding where it sits on the dyke, notices when one comes back in new words, and checks that closure evidence answers what was asked.

How does it know an engineer of record report repeats an old finding?

It matches by place and meaning: the same instrument, the same layer and the same concern. It shows each passage with how it was logged and the readings that year, and people confirm the chain.

Can a finding be closed while its instrument is above a trigger level?

No. While a tied instrument sits above its yellow level, the finding cannot be closed or accepted. The yellow notice and the recorded response show on the finding itself.

Does the product tell us a dam is safe?

No. Questions about whether a dyke, pond or instrument is safe go to the responsible engineer by name. The product reports what the records say.

How does tailings governance work here?

Named roles with separated duties. The responsible engineer and the inspector check each other's closures, the executive signs funded actions and accepted risk after opening what they rest on, and the board's questions are tracked like any other finding.

What happens to accepted risks each year?

Agents re-check each one against the newest reports. Any that changed are decided one by one. The unchanged ones renew together only after a random sample has been opened.

Production Operations & Oil Sands

Bring a dyke's
last seven reports.

We will read them side by side and show you which findings came back, and how each was closed.

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Tailings Dam Safety

The same tailings dam safety finding, written seven different ways

The Problem Today

The Solution

What You Get

A tailings dam safety finding that seven yearly reports kept raising

23 open findings drawn where they sit on Dyke 3

Four serious findings in the foundation, one of them open eight years

Up 3.1 m in October readings since 2019, past the model and past yellow

Seven engineer of record reports, four not logged, two closed wrongly

A confirmed reading is not a stability reassessment

He stops the closure and raises a $263,000 action

Signing stays off until she opens the passages and the trends

She reads each year's sentence before she funds the work

Her signature on the trail, after each item she opened