Human Oversight
Part of Document-heavy process automation
Handling unreadable or incomplete documents
Triage poor scans, missing pages and ambiguous values with a clear repair request, case owner and recheck.
If a document cannot be read or lacks required material, hold the affected case in a named state and request the specific repair. Preserve what arrived and when. Never guess a critical value or treat a replacement request as completed processing.
Find the actual defect
Distinguish five cases: a file that cannot be opened; a page too poor to read; required material that is absent; a value present but ambiguous; and a document linked to the wrong case. The route, and the question put to a sender or internal owner, will differ.
Inspect the original file and relevant page before deciding an empty extracted field means the sender omitted it. Text recognition and field extraction are distinct steps: poor image quality can affect reading, while an unfamiliar layout can affect where a value is found.
Check the chosen service's supported formats and input rules.
| Finding | Immediate action | State while unresolved |
|---|---|---|
| File cannot be opened or read | Request a usable copy; retain the receipt record | Awaiting replacement file |
| Required page or information is absent | Identify what is missing | Awaiting additional material |
| Present value is ambiguous | Ask a reviewer or requester the specific question | Awaiting clarification |
| Document does not match the case | Investigate identity and ownership | Unmatched document |
Ask for a usable repair
Tell the sender which document or page is affected, what cannot be used, and how to submit a correction through the approved channel. If a reviewer can resolve ambiguity from an authorised source, record the decision and its basis.
If a new submission is needed, attach it to the existing case and retain the sequence of versions under the organisation's record rules.
Name who follows up and when. A due date may trigger a reminder, escalation or closure under the organisation's procedure; it must not turn missing evidence into approval.
Use authorised channels and access rules for documents containing personal information. No universal retention period is implied.
Recheck the replacement
Confirm that the new page belongs to the case and fixes the stated defect. Repeat affected reading, extraction and completeness checks.
If an earlier business decision relied on the old version, determine whether it needs fresh review. Record a changed field as a correction rather than silently overwriting its earlier value.
A suggested pre-launch walk-through uses a blurred scan, a missing page, a conflicting value and a replacement for another case. Check the message, owner, held state and route back to processing for each.
