Posts by mycontrolroom
Launch of CenterHFE
Dear Colleagues, Next week we launch the first meeting of CenterHFE, it has been a hard start with Tax Registration delays, wish I hadn’t used the term “Tea Party” as you all know that means tea and biscuits to me, but maybe something else to others! Only joking. The email and website issues and getting…
Read MoreLives lost Tesoro Refinery 2010
Seven lives were tragically lost at the Tesoro refinery in 2010…said Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso, CSB chairperson. “I believe the draft report does an outstanding job of tracing this complex accident to its roots: a deficient refinery safety culture, weak industry standards for safeguarding equipment, and a regulatory system that too often emphasizes activities rather than…
Read MoreDecember 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…
Read MoreTwo 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…
Read MoreControl 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…
Read MoreControl 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…
Read MoreControl 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…
Read MoreCSB 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…
Read MoreControl 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…
Read MoreOperator 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…
Read MoreNovember News
November News What a wonderful time of year, but it represents the beginning of the end of the year. We go into Thanksgiving season this year with grateful heart’s for the year we have had so far. Back in England this was Harvest Festival, a time of reaping and bringing in the harvest and giving…
Read MoreWWTP Operator – The poor cousin? (Award winning paper from David Lee)
WWTP Operator – The poor cousin? Opportunities for Better Control Room Design David Lee MIChemE, CEng1* 1User Centered Design Services Inc., 48412 North Black Canyon Highway, PMB #99, New River, Arizona 85087, USA (*correspondence: dlee@mycontrolroom.com, 336.816.1419) KEYWORDS Control Room Design, Human Factors, ISO 11064, Ergonomics, Waste Water ABSTRACT It is an unfortunate fact of life…
Read MoreFatigue 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…
Read MoreOctober 2013 – Alarm Management in Hawaii
Aloha from Hawaii! Dave and I have been here for 2 weeks now and we have made great progress developing an Alarm Management Philosophy for an Electrical Transmission and Distribution Center customer. We have also developed an Alarm Rationalization Procedure and a specification for an Alarm Management Software tool to measure their alarm performance KPI’s.…
Read MoreControl Room Management Compliance
The Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Control Room Management (CRM) rule requires pipeline operators to create written procedures for the control room. This is a great opportunity for pipeline operators to go beyond compliance requirements and implement operating best practices that significantly enhance reliability and safety. To effectively achieve and exceed compliance with CRM…
Read MoreUCDS news for September 2013
Hello and welcome to the User Centered Design Services news for September 2013. Thank you for your interest in what we do and for allowing us to have fun while we do really important and serious work that makes a difference. The team has just completed a CRM review that has passed the PHMSA auditors.…
Read MoreWorkshops by UCDS
UCDS offers a full line of consulting services to evaluate your current plant condition, make realistic and achievable recommendations for improvement and aid you in implementing our recommendations. An integral part of this line is a set of workshops that provide an introduction to the basic principles and best practices relating to our services. The…
Read MoreWatch UCDS video about staff studies
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…
Read MoreLearn about the UCDS Console Operator Staffing Assessment
Do you ever wonder how many console operators you really need? Are your console positions equally loaded? Can you reduce the number of console operators and still safely operate the plant? Industry comparisons indicate you have too many operators, but the Union screams anytime you discuss staffing reductions. The only guideline you have is that…
Read MoreUser Centered Control Building Services
UCDS offers a full line of consulting services to evaluate your current plant condition, make realistic and achievable recommendations for improvement and aid you in implementing our recommendations. An integral part of this line is a set of control room design services that provide guidance at all phases of a building project on industry best…
Read MoreErgonomic Design Standards for Control Buildings.
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…
Read MoreHow the Safety and the Automation Systems finally come together as an HMI
By Ian Nimmo President User Centered Design Services Inc. Today we have clear guidelines on how the Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) and basic Process Control Systems (BPCS) should be separated from a controls and network perspective. But what does this mean to the HMI and the control room design? Where do Fire & Gas Systems…
Read MoreUser Centered Situation Awareness Workshop and Training
The UCDS Situation Awareness workshop covers the following topics: The International Ergonomic Standards for Control Rooms (ISO 11064) What is in an Operating Philosophy Common Control Room Issues including Distractions, Noise, Lighting, and Operator Vigilance Alarm Management and Human Computer Interface (HCI) design. How to design communications for a centralized control building Relationship between CCR…
Read MoreControl all your PC’s, consoles, cameras, screens, and devices remotely from a single keyboard
You can reduce PC clutter, noise, heat, cables, etc by storing all your hardware in a climate controlled storage center and still control all your devices / consoles with a single keyboard. This keyboard gives you access to all the information from a single source. You could have information stored in different locations, cities, or…
Read MoreUCDS 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…
Read MoreCanadian Pipeline Operators Are Regulated Much Like Our US Customers
Canadian Pipeline Operators Are Regulated Much Like Our US Customers: The US pipeline operators are regulated to develop, implement, and enforce control room management plans to ensure the safety and security of people, pipelines, property and the environment. Canadian pipeline operators are not being forgotten, the National Energy Board (NEB) is requiring compliance with Onshore…
Read MoreThe West Texas Tragedy Reminds Us The Importance of Blast Resistant Shelters
Just two hours away from my home here in Texas, rescue teams were picking through the devastation in the small Texas town of West, after a massive explosion at a fertilizer company flattened the surrounding neighborhood. Initial estimates put the death toll at between five and 15, with at least 160 injured. Among the missing…
Read MorePHMSA Publishes Final Rule Announcing Updated and Increased Civil Penalties for Hazmat Violations
PHMSA Publishes Final Rule Announcing Updated and Increased Civil Penalties for Hazmat Violations As many of you already know, PHMSA has regulated pipeline operators to follow human factor guidelines for safer pipeline operations. This is known throughout the pipeline industry as CRM Control Room Management, which includes a written plan addressing control room ergonomics, alarm…
Read MoreSuccess Story – Alarm Managment
PPCL was recently implement in a Saudi refinery with a reported 85% reduction in standing alarms and a 50% reduction in alarms per minute.Here are the details. There were a total of 993 process variables that both had process variable alarm limits provided and data present in the plant historian. Nearly 200 other process variable…
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