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Operator training development with Ian Nimmo. We must identify roles and responsibilities, then put together job performance profiles. This helps us identify what skills are needed in order to do the job. Looking at every aspect of the job, we then create a program for new people coming into the industry as they progress through…

Ian Nimo discusses Work Team Design. User Centered Design Services has developed an assessment methodology that compares the current operations Work Team Design to industry Best Practices. Our review includes the Work Group Structure, the Work Group Interaction, and the Management Structure and Philosophy. Our process can be applied to current staffing at a site…

Ian Nimmo discusses control room high-performance HMI. Most people only use HMI, resulting in over-using colors, glaring screens, and information being displayed incorrectly. Our retention is focused on how an operator detects a problem. We want to be able to detect the moment we leave normal operation. We need to define what is off normal,…

Ian Nimmo discusses Abnormal Situation Management. From a production perspective, how do we keep processes within normal operating limits and how do we determine normal operations? Abnormal situation management is when a process begins to function outside those limits, and an operator must step in to help the automation system. Today, HMI tools are needed…

Ian Nimmo discusses how workload staffing studies are becoming increasingly important in the industry and looks at the economics of business models post COVID. In the past, time and motion studies were used to analyze staff efficiency, but that no longer works. After gathering this information, we can get a good understanding of the operator’s…

Ian discusses situational awareness. Most people believe situational awareness is knowing what is going on around you at all times. But there’s more to it. It’s knowing what was going on around you 30 minutes ago, what happens 30 minutes from now, etc. This gives the operator the complete picture. A control room provides a…

Management of Organizational Change with Ian Nimmo Management of Organizational Change (MOC) has been a challenge in today’s workplace and has been a major contributor to most accidents. However, the United States Regulator OSHA has issued a Process Safety Management requirement and spelled out what is expected of industry and how to comply. Many companies…

  President and CEO of UCDS Ian Nimmo discusses the history of HMI (Human Machine Interface) Design. He explores the evolution of HMI starting back from the processing industry when operators used analog instrumentation on control panels, all the way to describe the benefits of modern HMI today. The ultimate goal of HMI today is…

This is a perfect example of a control room that was designed for situation awareness. The operator workload was analyzed to know how to balance the workload evenly and to make sure they had the right number of operators in the room. Alarm management was implemented and the displays were designed using Level 1 and…

Let’s talk specifically about control room design for a minute. We continue to see major problems in the control room, from poor lighting, number of and placement of screens, screen sizes, room layout, traffic flow, noise, and distractions. One of the biggest issues is screen stacking and too many screens. These problems continue to happen,…

It’s important to test your display designs and check results. Ultimately with any project we want to see an improvement in operator performance. That is why we call our displays High Performance Displays. During a study of traditional P&ID displays versus HP displays, we found that operators could detect a problem – before the alarm activated,…

This is a very simplified explanation of what a properly designed level one display can do. For ease of understanding, we performed an operator task analysis to identify the most important information that was scattered on many different displays and we combined that information into a simple list. The idea, is turning critical operator data…

We analyzed the number of moves an operator makes as he navigates from display to display, a common practice during start up and when troubleshooting abnormal situations. The operator is looking for information on multiple screens. In this scenario, the operator viewed 28 screens during a start up, looking for information that is scattered on…

Operators – alarms, displays, screens, glare, fatigue, distractions, training, data overload, etc…how do we manage control rooms and improve performance? Check out this recent video: https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/recordingView?webinarKey=7776801068881362699&registrantEmail=csalera%40mycontrolroom.com smaddox@mycontrolroom.com / www.mycontrolroom.com / 512 630 3401

Operators possess the ability to optimize the process while monitoring multiple variables on the control system. The operator is expected to maximize efficiency and output, often working with outside operators to achieve these goals. We rely on them to detect subtle changes in a sea of information. We have interviewed thousands of operators and we…

Nuisance alarms contribute to – poor control and wasted energy – Standing alarms = feedstock expenses, containment loss, and an increase in utilities – Missed alarms = wear and tear on equipment, increased maintenance costs, and equipment damage – Critical alarms = unplanned downtime, Injury or death, or environmental violations. Alarms are a safety layer…

So if we invest in our operators, where is the ROI? Well, Operating outside equipment and process limits is costly and risky. In the above image, focus your attention on the dotted line where the fault occurs. There is a problem, the system takes some time to generate an alarm (the problem continues to grow) then…

Perform an operator Task Analysis to determine what the operators responsibuilities are and what the workload consitis of. Then design the displays using the Level 1 through 4 hiarchy. Once you know eactly what information the operator requires and the best way to display the information (not using data) using analog objects which provide the…