Determining the complexity level of proceduralized tasks in a digitalized main control room using the TACOM measure

Abstract

The task complexity (TACOM) measure was previously developed to quantify the complexity of proceduralized tasks conducted by nuclear power plant operators. Following the development of the TACOM measure, its appropriateness has been validated by investigating the relationship between TACOM scores and three kinds of human performance data, namely response times, human error probabilities, and subjective workload scores. However, the information reflected in quantified TACOM scores is still insufficient to determine the levels of complexity of proceduralized tasks for human reliability analysis (HRA) applications. In this regard, the objective of this study is to suggest criteria for determining the levels of task complexity based on logistic regression between human error occurrences in digitalized main control rooms and TACOM scores. Analysis results confirmed that the likelihood of human error occurrence according to the TACOM score is secured. This result strongly implies that the TACOM measure can be used to identify the levels of task complexity, which could be applicable to various research domains including HRA.