“Suffering from Vagueness” – A Problem?

A 59-year old woman said she was “suffering from vagueness” when it came to controlling her compulsive shopping and spending.  Her statement was in an Atlanta Journal – Constitution article.  From years of Latin study(really), I know the root word for vagueness is vagus.  The original meaning is “wander, move around, unsettled.”   People have a vagus nerve, which wanders from the brain to several organs. Perhaps suffering from vagueness is part of being human.

I am not sure how one suffers from vagueness, but I think the woman is not the only sufferer.  Vagueness may lead to performance problems in operational control rooms.   Does this occur in your workplace, or home, or on your hard drive?  Is wandering required for you to locate something?

Working on shift one night, a controller was looking for an operating procedure.  There was a procedures manual online and a printed copy on a nearby shelf.  The  controller was looking elsewhere, sorting through e-mails he had saved for months in order to find the current operating instructions.  It took approximately thirty minutes to find the e-mail.  He may have been suffering from vagueness. because he needed the guidance of a procedure before performing a task.  How would you improve this situation and provide clarity?

If one does not have a procedure or a job aid or some type of guidance, could that cause suffering from vagueness?   I think so.   The worst case scenario for vagueness suffering is wandering around, looking for an answer, with no idea of where to find the right answer. That can cause errors and accidents in a hazardous industry workplace.

J.R.R Tolkien, in Lord of the Rings, has a phrase in a letter from Gandalf to the hobbits, “Not all who wander are lost.”   That proved true in that fantasy, but it is not good advice in an operational control room.  Performing operational tasks while suffering from vagueness can lead to loss of safety, profits, and jobs.

Posted February 17th, 2010 in Human Factors, In the News, Observations

“Active Desk” – Its Time Is Now

The March-April 2010 issue of The Futurist has a brief article “Overcoming the ‘Desk Potato’ Syndrome.”   This product would be good for people like me, who  spend most of the day sitting at a desk and whose waist shows the signs of that sitting.  Yes, I know sitting at a desk is not the only cause of a big waist.

The ‘Active Desk’ is elevated so that one can work while walking on a treadmill.  This could work well in pipeline control centers.   I’ve been in a few control centers that have desks which elevate so the controller can stand.  Some control centers have treadmills in another room, but controllers don’t like to leave their workstations to use the treadmill.

Exercise is one method for alleviating stress and fatigue.   The ‘Active Desk’ was developed by the University of California, San Diego.  More information about the ‘Active Desk’ is available at http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/11-09ActiveDesk.asp.

Posted February 8th, 2010 in In the News, Managing Fatigue

Sleep Apnea – Article in Wall St. Journal 02/02/10

Do you snore loudly and often? Are you sleepy during the day? Are you fat or obese, with a big neck? Do you sweat excessively? It might be time to have a sleep study, to determine if you have sleep apnea. It’s been about eight years since I had a sleep study that revealed my breathing was stopping hundreds of times during the night when I was trying to sleep.

I began using a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pathway) machine that keeps the airway in my throat open. The difference in my energy level was AMAZING when I started sleeping all night, instead of thinking I was sleeping. There are risks to your health from sleep apnea. What might happen if one stops breathing hundreds of time? The worse case scenario is death.

People on shift work already know the effects of fatigue. If you are a shift worker, who answered yes to the questions above, see your doctor soon. Here’s the link to the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107204575039101390202576.html

Posted February 2nd, 2010 in In the News, Managing Fatigue