Elephant in the Control Room is Fatigue

Someone asked for this presentation, which I did at the American Petroleum Institute Control Room Forum in November 2010.  It was already on the site.  For more information on fatigue, look at the categories.  Thanks for your interest.  E-mail charles@charlesalday.com for additional information.

There’s an Elephant in the Control Room-v4

Posted February 21st, 2011 in 2011 Control Room Management, Human Factors, Managing Fatigue

Errors by Air Traffic Controllers May Have Doubled

A Google Alert about human error caught my attention, since I am flying around the USA in early 2011.  It made me wonder about other control rooms and controllers, like pipeline controllers.  The number of operating errors in a twelve month period that ended September 30, 2010 was 1889 compared to 947 in the preceding twelve month period.  One controller said he thought it was because of the relaxed atmosphere, where controllers watch movies and  use their electronic devices on shift.

YIKES!   I thought an air traffic controller would be more disciplined, and that distractions like movies and personal electronic devices would not be allowed in the control room.    I don’t want air traffic controllers stressed out, but neither do I want them relaxed and paying attention to movies and apps.

I was talking to a eleventh grader at Sunday School this morning.  During the “social time” when the students talk with one another, he was playing Angry Birds. He said it was addictive, and he couldn’t stop.   He is right; many are addicted to playing games and at the wrong times.

Our company works with pipeline controllers.  The regulators issued an advisory bulletin in 2010 that advises companies to make sure that personal electronic devices do not distract employees from their important duties of safely operating pipelines.  Human beings are easily distracted and seek amusement.  Do you?  Do your employees?

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/February/FAA-Air-Traffic-Control-Errors-Double/

In an era of unrivaled air travel safety concerns, mistakes made by air traffic controllers appear to have doubled. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that during a year-long span ending Sept. 30, 2010 controllers made nearly 1,889 operation errors. That’s up from 947 errors for the same time period a year before. Air traffic controller Evan Seeley, who works at the Ronkonkoma, N.Y., radar facility, pointed to a relaxed atmosphere in the control room as the reason for the spike. He said controllers sometimes watch movies or play with electronic devices during their shifts. Seeley notified the U.S. Transportation Department’s inspector general and the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates whistleblower charges.

Posted February 20th, 2011 in 2011 Control Room Management, Human Factors, In the News

Sleep Is Important Every Day – I’m Angry!

I’m angry at myself!   Monday morning,  I decided to go to bed at 10pm because I had to get up at 6am Tuesday.   And i know that about eight hours of sleep is what I need every 24 hours.  Monday night I went to bed at 11:45pm.    I decided to catch up on some accounting tasks in my office, make travel arrangements for upcoming business trips, and clean up the office.

When the alarm went off Tuesday morning, did I leap out of bed?  No, I hit snooze several times, finally got up at 6:30am, rushed to get ready, and was stressed before my appointment.

Why do I stay up late?  I’m typical, according to surveys by the National Sleep Foundation.  People attempt to cram many activities into their waking hours, and extend the waking hours into hours when we should be asleep.  I am sure none of you do that.

Read the attached article to learn why sleep is important, and do not follow my example from Monday.  Follow my example from Tuesday night and Wednesday night when I slept eight hours and nine hours.  I feel better today!

Why Sleep Is Important

Posted February 10th, 2011 in 2011 Managing Fatigue Articles, Human Factors, Managing Fatigue