Optimizing control room operator performance calls for more than just the latest equipment and systems. Ergonomic factors are also critical, claims Pierre Schäring, marketing manager of CGM - not only to ensure that operators stay alert during the long hours of their shift, but also to provide an environment in which they can manage emergency situations.
CGM, which designs control room layout and furniture, has recently won a SEK 2.5 million ($335,000) grant from the Swedish government to co-fund an 18-month research project into an operations center of the future. CGM has matched this sum, while ABB has contributed an 800xA automation system to the project.
An experimental control room is being designed and built at CGM’s headquarters in Borås in central Sweden. “Our goal is to do something that hasn’t been done before – to measure operators’ health level in work conditions,” says Schäring. Actual operators will participate in these studies, which will run next year.
In September and October, when the new control room has been prepared, customers such as StatoilHydro, BP, ExxonMobil, and Shell, as well as Swedish authorities and ABB, will be invited to inspect it and to suggest how the control room environment might be further improved.
Experience and studies have shown the importance of the “micro-climate” in which operators work, and the experimental control room will have new kinds of functions built in to control these factors. For instance, noise from fellow operators is often a distraction, so noise-attenuating measures such as sound absorbing materials will be employed.
In addition, the audio feed will come through a speaker designed to steer the sound toward individual operators as required while minimizing “leakage” to those on either side. Similarly, each operator will be able to control the temperature at his station to suit individual preferences. In emergency response situations, air will be cooled and more oxygen supplied to assist clear thinking under stress.
Height-adjustable desks will allow operators to work sitting or standing. Being able to change position is important to maintaining alertness. “If we can get operators who are 10% more alert, that will make a big difference in terms of both production and emergency response,” says Schäring.
For more information, contact Pierre Schäring, CGM. Tel +46 3322 9500, fax +46 3322 9501,[email protected], www.cgm.se
