A fail safe heating assembly for operative union with a heat sink and/or work piece is provided. The assembly generally includes a heater characterized by a resistive heating element and a dielectric substrate, and a resistive sensor, substantially coextensive with the resistive heating element of the heater and united therewith so as to define a composite heating assembly. The resistive heating element is supported upon the dielectric substrate, with the heater including leads for operative union with a current source. The resistive sensor is characterized by a first resistive sensor portion having a resistive material delimiting a first resistive pattern, and a second resistive sensor portion having a resistive material delimiting a second resistive pattern.