Assumptions Cause Problems, Particularly in Houston

After the API Control Room Forum, I had a nice lunch with Steve Will of Evosites.  The company designs and builds control room consoles, and my clients are interested in the “sit and stand” console.  When I went back to the hotel to get a cab to the airport, Orest Hodinski from Kinder Morgan Canada and one of the pipeline controllers were sitting outside.  They also were going to the airport.  Orest asked me if I wanted to share a cab.  That was nice,  and I was glad to share a taxi.

We got in the cab, and I noticed we were getting on I-610 North.  I then remembered that one of the two airports in Houston was Bush International and the other was Hobby.  My flight was out of Hobby; theirs was out of Bush International.  Thankfully, we were still close to the hotel.  The driver made a loop and I took another taxi to Hobby.  Hope Orest, Anderson, and Wayne made their flight to Edmonton.

All flights in my hometown of Atlanta are from one airport.  I need to stop making assumptions that there is only one airport in other cities, even if  usually fly into Hobby Airport on my frequent trips to Houston.

Posted November 20th, 2010 in Human Factors, Observations

More About Elephants; They Sleep Like Shiftworkers

How many hours do elephants sleep per night?  I read that they need to be alert throughout the night, so they sleep about four hours per night.  But they do not sleep four hours in a row.  They sleep about one hour, get up, look around, eat a little, probably poop, and then sleep some more.

When I worked shift work, I slept four or five hours when I slept in the daytime.  Unlike the elephant,  I wasn’t afraid a predator was going to attack me.  Like the elephant, any noise would disturb my sleep and cause me to awake.  Often, it was difficult to go back to sleep.   I have learned and my weight shows that my primary fatigue management strategy of eating and drinking to stay alert can have lasting effects on our health.

If you are a shift worker, don’t be like the elephant or like me.  Studies show that most people who sleep in the daytime average less than six hours of sleep.  Use different strategies to get as much sleep as possible.

Posted November 14th, 2010 in Human Factors, Managing Fatigue

The Elephant in the Control Room: The People Who Work 24-7-365

You’ve heard that saying about the elephant in the room, that enormous issue that few people want to acknowledge.

Pipeline control rooms in the USA have been discussing, debating, preparing, procrastinating, and thinking about a new pipeline safety regulations that require their control rooms to develop a human factors management plan by August 1, 2011.   The major concerns at the moment seem to be fatigue mitigation and alarm management.  We’ve been working with several companies on these issues this year.

Alarm management is a labor intensive task, but it is more manageable than fatigue mitigation.  Once all the alarms are documented, categorized, rationalized, and made part of a plan, the alarms do not change unless a manageable change is performed.  Alarms are not human.

Humans are the elephant in the control room.  There may be 20 controllers in a control room and I can document them, categorize them, and provide a rational basis for why we must manage fatigue.  I can develop a rigorous fatigue management plan that includes training and limits hours of work per day and per week to allow time for sleep and recovery rest through days off.   But people might not follow the plan.  Some will not follow the plan.  Anyone who is a human being knows that.

If I want to manage or lessen the risks of a fatigue related pipeline accident, I will take a risk based approach.  For my particular control room, I will identify the potential hazards, figure the consequences and probabilities, and develop preventative measures that include several layers of protection.  I will not rely solely  on training, policies, and procedures.  that is not wise.

I will make a presentation on this subject at the American Petroleum Institute Control Room Forum  November 18, 2010.  Please see below.

There’s an Elephant in the Control Room

Posted November 14th, 2010 in Human Factors, Managing Fatigue, Observations, Operational Excellence