Jason Laberge

Impact of Functional and Schematic Overview Displays on Console Operators’ Situation Awareness

Console operators in process plants have to maintain a high level of situation awareness to operate the plant safely, effectively, and efficiently. An overview display is one of the primary displays in a control room that operators monitor to gain and maintain an understanding of the plant. In this study, the authors evaluated operator performance using two overview display formats. The first format, characterized as a functional design, included qualitative, graphical indicators for process parameters and organized the position of the indicators on the basis of functional relations of the process equipment. The second format, characterized as a traditional schematic display, showed connecting process lines between equipment and numerical fields to present process information. Both displays contained the same indicator values. Eighteen plant operators used both display formats to monitor a crude unit process for process parameters that deviated from normal values. We measured operators’ situation awareness using think-aloud protocols and situation awareness global assessment technique, subjective workload, and usability ratings. Results indicated that operators’ situation awareness was significantly higher when they monitored the process on a functional display compared with a schematic display. Their subjective workload and usability ratings also favored the functional overview display format. Implications of the findings for continuous process control and overview display design are discussed.

Effective shift handover

In the refining industry, control room and field operators document their daily activities using shift logs. These logs are supposed to be an important part of the shift handover process and are the mechanism by which activities are coordinated across shifts. Previous research identified the need for a more structured approach to shift handover. However, the value of a structured approach has never been demonstrated experimentally. We report here on an experiment sponsored by the Abnormal Situation Management Consortium conducted at the ENGEN Refinery that compared the quality of shift handovers using a structured checklist-integrated logbook to a more traditional less structured logging approach. The results showed that significant benefits to situation awareness derive from the more structured approach.

Using Signal Detection Theory and Time Window-based Human-In-The-Loop simulation as a tool for assessing the effectiveness of different qualitative shapes in continuous monitoring tasks

This paper provides a case study of Signal Detection Theory (SDT) as applied to a continuous monitoring dual-task environment. Specifically, SDT was used to evaluate the independent contributions of sensitivity and bias to different qualitative gauges used in process control. To assess detection performance in monitoring the gauges, we developed a Time Window-based Human-In-The-Loop (TWHITL) simulation bed. Through this test bed, we were able to generate a display similar to those monitored by console operators in oil and gas refinery plants. By using SDT and TWHITL, we evaluated the sensitivity, operator bias, and response time of flow, level, pressure, and temperature gauge shapes developed by Abnormal Situation Management(®) (ASM(®)) Consortium (www.asmconsortium.org). Our findings suggest that display density influences the effectiveness of participants in detecting abnormal shapes. Furthermore, results suggest that some shapes elicit better detection performance than others.

Communication and Coordination Failures in the Process Industries

Previous research shows that effective team communication and coordination is required for managing normal and abnormal situations (Laberge & Goknur, 2006). The purpose of this project is to quantify common communication and coordination failures and root causes of abnormal situations in the process industries. Fourteen incident reports were analyzed using the TapRoot® root cause analysis methodology. The top five communication and coordination failures were failures of: planning or preparatory activities (31%), individual and team execution (14%), work direction and supervision (13%), communication between functional groups (12%), and activity assessment (10%). The study of root causes showed that ineffective standards, policies, and administrative controls (SPAC); poor crew teamwork; a lack of communication; and no supervision were common reasons for failures.

Communication and coordination problems in the hydocarbon processing industry

Effective communication and coordination is important in the hydrocarbon processing industry. This paper represents the first step in a larger study with the goal of improving communication and designing solutions (technology, training, work processes) to support effective coordination. We administered a survey to 11 sites to understand and characterize communication and coordination issues. Results showed that communication and coordination could be improved between planning and operations (console, field, head operators), communication between units, between maintenance (technicians, coordinators, supervisors) and operations and during shift handover. Specific constraints that hinder communication and coordination included weak leadership, poor control room design, closed communication culture, deficient work processes, and varied situation and work environment constraints. Potential solution areas include procedures, electronic logs, group displays, CRM and leadership training, and the use of video-mediated communication.