This paper reviews the difficulties which are encountered when attempting to apply current technology to the management of technical information throughout the design, construction and operating life of a process plant. This context is used to illustrate the advantages to be derived from some key features of the emergent STEP standard which have driven its development to date. However, the primary purpose of the paper is to explain the relevance of STEP to the development of knowledge-based systems capable of compensating for the ephemeral nature of organizational memory and the resultant lack of awareness which is the root cause of many incidents of total loss in the process industries. Finally, the potential for such knowledge-based systems is illustrated by a number of examples taken from past incidents.