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Posts Tagged ‘control room’

Join us July 13th in Houston Texas

On July 13th, Chris, Steve W., and I will be hosting a 1-day event in Houston, Texas. There, we will provide a tour of the latest control room furniture options, demoing sit-stand features and a smart keyboard for the operator to access multiple networks with a single interface. We will explain our 6-Step Methodology for High-Performance Control…

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6 Step to Achieve High Performance Control Room

  Image 1 This is a 6 Step methodology where each step, starting with number 1, feeds into number 2, and so on. After each of the 5 steps are complete, all the information and design changes are rolled into step 6! This is an integrated methodology that promotes high-performance operations in the control room. …

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Why High Performance HMI Is Often Misunderstood in the Control Room

The processing industry has evolved from physical instruments on a panel to electronic physical controllers on the panel to a limited group of 8 faceplates on a black background which replicated the electronic controllers. The industry identified that this limited view did not show the context of the faceplate and relied on the operator mental…

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ISO 11064 Is Still Crucial in Control Rooms. Here Is Why.

ISO 11064 is the only Ergonomic Standard that comprehensibly addresses the Human Factors and Ergonomics of a control room. The role of the standard is twofold, it addresses the risk to humans through Repetitive Stress Injuries or MSDs which have been identified globally to cost industry more than $508 Billion which includes human error, turnover…

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Invista Embraces Situation Awareness and Control Room Design

The following was written by Driscoll Staley of Invista, describing his situation awareness and control room design experience with UCDS. The Victoria nylon plant was constructed over 60 years ago and remains a key global supplier of intermediates. Each production unit represents a different molecule required for nylon production and is operated as separate business unit. Control…

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Learn more about our Staffing Studies

It is extremely important to ensure that when changes to the organization are made the safety of the facility is not compromised. As such we strongly recommend a Management of Organization Change study is undertaken. Based on recent incidents, and subsequent recommendations from investigations such as the Baker report, and legislation, such as that in…

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December News

December News Well, a year has come and gone really fast.  Merry Christmas everyone and best wishes for the New Year. This last month I spent 2 weeks in Hawaii at our alarm management customer’s property in Honolulu.   We spent a lot of time rationalizing alarms and made some significant progress.  We launched our new…

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Two major things to account for in Control Room Design

There are two major aspects of control room design that should be taken into account, these are: 1. The suitability of the structure of the control room to withstand possible major hazards events; and 2. The layout of control rooms and the arrangement of panels, VDUs etc to ensure effective ergonomic operation of the plant…

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Control Room Fatigue & Alertness

Operator fatigue is a critical safety issue that is putting 24/7 operations at risk in our industry. Every day, operators and managers must cope with unusual and difficult work schedules and the reality of operator fatigue. Fatigue may produce physical and mental decrements in alertness, vigilance, and decision-making that can increase the risk of human…

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Control Room Fatigue & Alertness

Operator fatigue is a critical safety issue that is putting 24/7 operations at risk in our industry. Every day, operators and managers must cope with unusual and difficult work schedules and the reality of operator fatigue. Fatigue may produce physical and mental decrements in alertness, vigilance, and decision-making that can increase the risk of human…

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Control Room People and Behaviors

Control Room People and Behaviors Operators need to be allowed to do what they are trained and paid to do and that requires that they be provided an environment that is void of as many unnecessary distractions and disruptions as possible, something akin to an air-traffic control center. When you see a press release or…

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CSB Report on the Chevron 2012 Pipe Rupture

CSB Report on the Chevron 2012 Pipe Rupture Recommendations for regulation change and the implementation of a “Safety Case System” The August 2012 process fire in the crude unit at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, California endangered 19 workers and sent more than 15,000 residents to the hospital for medical attention. In the draft report…

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Control Room Excellence (an overview)

Control Room Excellence begins with a culture that enables operators to achieve best operating results by reacting to process changes before they become problems. Operations Excellence comprises several sub-solutions that focus on improving operational performance to achieve optimal results. From the control room to off-sites material movement, Operations Excellence solutions run the gamut to help…

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Operator Training

Quote: “People should not be trained until they get it right; they need to be trained until they do not get it wrong”. In the industrial workplace, few people begin a job fully trained. Even when people have prior work experience, they will still need to learn the many nuances of the new work environment…

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Fatigue is a real issue in operations

Fatigue is not just feeling physically drained or tired; it’s also a state of impaired alertness, attentiveness, affecting your mental and physical performance. Being fatigued also includes having reduced motor coordination, and slower reaction time. When we are fatigued, there is a loss of environmental awareness, impairment of cognitive/logical reasoning skills, poor judgment and diminished…

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Staffing & Field Operators

The typical process for performing a Field Operator Staffing Assessment consists of a few preliminary conversations to determine the particulars of the study. We can apply this methodology to a single position, an entire facility or all facilities throughout a Client’s system. The study can be done openly (including interviews with operators), or discretely (with…

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UCDS Field Shelter Design services

In the past, all control was done from field shelters. A control system upgrade has enabled the site to move to a new control facility. The field shelters will still be used by field operators for important functions such as maintenance coordination, issuing work permits, sampling, new employee training, but are poorly designed for these…

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Steps in reducing human error

Human error is some that impacts so many areas of operations and effectiveness. We have designed several tools, workshops and assessments to identify where human error is causing the biggest problems in your operations. Here are some steps to reduce human errors include: addressing the conditions and reducing the stressors which increase the frequency of…

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Reducing Human Error

Reducing human error involves far more than taking disciplinary action against an individual. There are a range of measures which are more effective controls including design of the job and equipment, procedures, and training. Our Work Team Design Assessment will help not just evolve a new organization and culture but also develop and organizational culture…

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Download resources for alarm management

Did you know that we have several Alarm Management downloadable resources available to you? Alarms Graphic Projects A longer and more detailed version of the Alarm Overload paper – written by Ian Nimmo.  Paper discussing the benefits of Alarm Management and Graphics Projects i.e., focusing on life-cycle characteristics and transitioning to maintaining good alarm management…

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Software to measure the fatigue risk of shift workers

UCDS partnered with Circadian to offer a software tool that allows customers to measure the fatigue risk of shift workers. This allows management to schedule the right workers during the right shift to reduce the risk of a fatigue related incident. Press release: Shift Worker and Fatigue (measuring the Risk) Operator fatigue is a critical…

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The Need for Good Situation Awareness

This is an excerpt the the document: Abnormal Situation Awareness The Need for Good Situation Awareness Ian Nimmo, President The goal in designing a control room is to create a work environment that promotes high levels of vigilance and situation awareness. Operators are vigilant when they are alert and prepared to act. They have a…

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Designing Your Control Room

UCDS has in-depth experience in designing control rooms and modifying existing field shelters. Our process is compliant with the ISO 11064 Ergonomic Design Standard for Control Buildings. We interview management, supervision and a significant group of the operators to understand functional requirements, what works well in the existing environment, and identification and correction of problems…

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More of UCDS is Coming!

Another new month, I can’t keep up! We had a great time at Sedona, AZ at our AGM and planning for next year.  Melinda, husband and three girls joined us for an evening.  The twins dominated. So cute. I have had a busy month with a visit to Sweeny, Texas for a High Performance HMI…

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Happy Thanksgiving

Another busy month for UCDS with lots of travel!  I made Chairman (100,000 miles) on US Airways already for next year and Dave is close behind me. I have recently spoken at a couple of big events.  I was at the Emerson User Group where I presented a paper on HMI design.  It covered why…

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Implementing a High-Performance HMI Philosophy and Culture

Little thought has been given to human factors in the control room layout, the operator stations and even less to the user interface design. Operators may be oriented to “normal,” steady-state plant operations, but are ill-prepared to deal with abnormal situations when they arise. This includes scheduled shutdowns and start-ups that today happen at increasingly…

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Implementing a High-Performance HMI Philosophy and Culture

Little thought has been given to human factors in the control room layout, the operator stations and even less to the user interface design. Operators may be oriented to “normal,” steady-state plant operations, but are ill-prepared to deal with abnormal situations when they arise. This includes scheduled shutdowns and start-ups that today happen at increasingly…

Read More