Human Factors in Control-Center Design

Abstract

This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper IPTC 11762, "Improvement of Human Factors in Control-Center Design - Experiences Using ISO 11064 in The Norwegian Petroleum Industry and Suggestions for Improvements," by Andreas Lumbe Aas, Norges Teknisk- Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Dept. of Computer Science, and Stig Ole Johnsen, Sintef Technology and Society, prepared for the 2007 International Petroleum Technology Conference, Dubai, 4-6 December. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Managing human factors (HFs) in the design of control centers (CCs) has become increasingly important in large-scale petroleum projects because of the effects on safety and on efficient operations. Integrated operations (IOs) introduce new ways of working, allowing virtual teams, but raise new risk-management issues. In 2006, 22 persons, representing different sectors and professions in the industry, were asked about their experiences with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 11064, the standard guide to "ergonomic design of control centers" for handling HFs during design of CCs. This paper summarizes experiences applying ISO 11064 in Norwegian petroleum projects and suggests areas for improvements. Introduction This study mapped experiences in applying ISO 11064 to CC design in full-scale industrial projects [e.g., construction of new offshore installations (oil platforms); floating production, storage, and offloading vessels; and onshore process installations] as well as major CC modifications of the same. Fig. 1 shows the ergonomic-design process for CCs in ISO 11064. This process has five phases, A through E, that perform iteratively. ISO 11064 consists of seven parts, of which Part 5 is still in draft. This paper focuses on Part 1, principles for the design of CCs, because this was the part most commonly used among interviewees. Several interviewees pointed out that Part 3, control-room layout, and Part 7, principles for the evaluation of CCs, also were important. ISO 11064 is a normative reference in the regulations relating to design and outfitting of facilities as published by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA), the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, and the Norwegian Social and Health Directorate. ISO 11064 is not designed specifically for IOs, but the principles of the standard can be used for IOs. The systematic consideration of human error in systems designs can lead to improved safety, even improved productivity in many cases. To allow for efficient design of safety-critical systems, it is important to have flexible safety standards that provide a good cost/benefit ratio and contribute to the design of safer systems. Therefore, a goal-based approach is discussed.