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

Useful Sleep Information: Sleep and Moods

Disclaimers:  This is not medical advice and is not an endorsement of any products.  Recently I saw an advertisement for Tylenol PM.  The ad contained pictures of faces in various moods with the question “How are you feeling today?”  It asked the reader to take a seven-day sleep challenge.  I checked out the product website and found an i Phone application for sleep tracking along with tips on getting a good night’s sleep.  I believe fatigue education is important for shift workers and all humans.  If you agree, use the link

http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/pain/main.inc

Posted August 30th, 2010 in Human Factors, Managing Fatigue