About OPALS

The OPALS Programme is owned and operated by NRI, the Noordvjik Risk Initiative. NRI is a small not for profit foundation set up in Noordvijk in 1998, with aim of maintaining safety documentation from the MORT programme in the public domain. OPALS is derived from seminal thinking from the MORT programme, particularly the Energy Trace and Barrier Analysis used to analyse accident causation, and the use of Significant Reportable Observations in the US nuclear industry in the 1960's and 70's.

The two UK Board members of NRI are John Kingston and Gordon Crick. Since 2017 they have been developing ideas of how to use principles of worker engagement to revitalise the MORT principles, and create a tool for the UK construction industry which is capable of expalining an enhanced hierarchy of control measures, in a way which will lend itself to being implemented by general construction managers in a wide range of construction sectors.