Effects of Time Pressure and Experience Level on Worker Perceived Workload: Implications for Procedural Designs in High-Risk Industrial Tasks

Abstract

One of the leading causes of incidents in high-risk industrial facilities, including offshore oil and gas rigs, is poor compliance with written procedures. For this study, 25 male participants performed one task under two different conditions: self-paced and with a time stressor. Participants were either considered to be novice or expert workers based on their years of experience with specific tasks. After completion of one task two separate times, each participant was instructed to fill out the NASA TLX in paper form. Compared to the novice group, the experienced group rated each of the six subscales significantly lower except for performance. Time pressure was self reportedly ranked higher than self-paced for novices, and they were ranked equally by experts. The findings suggest that one well written-procedure may not be adequate for both novice and experienced workers in either self-paced or time pressure situations because expert workers had a lower workload on task. Further research needs to be done to assess what each group of workers needs to be successful performing their job.