Operating Procedures, Competence and Human Factors
Procedures and competence
Operating procedures must be accurate, current, written for the task and available at the point of use. They should cover normal operation, startup, shutdown, emergency actions and abnormal situations. Critical procedures require validation and periodic review. Competence management ensures people have the knowledge, skills and experience for their tasks, evidenced through training, assessment and refresher cycles. Contractors need equivalent competence assurance.
Human factors
Candidates must understand human error types: slips and lapses (skill-based), mistakes (rule- and knowledge-based) and violations. Design should make errors less likely and less harmful - clear labelling, sensible alarm prioritisation, adequate staffing and workload, and interfaces that support diagnosis. Alarm flood and nuisance alarms are classic human-factors failures. Fatigue, shift patterns and communication at shift handover are frequently examined. Non-technical skills such as situation awareness and challenge culture matter.
Traps in questions
- Blaming the operator rather than the system - exam answers should address design and organisational causes.
- Assuming more procedures always improve safety; poor procedures can increase error.
- Confusing competence (can do the job) with training attendance (was on a course).
- Ignoring shift handover and contractor interfaces.
Worked example
A control room has 400 alarms per hour during upsets. The fix is not just retraining operators: apply alarm rationalisation, prioritise by consequence, add first-out indication, and review staffing during abnormal situations.
Rule of thumb
When an error occurs, ask what in the task, interface, procedure or organisation made the error likely before concluding the person was at fault.