resilient procedure use

8/12/2019 Resilient Procedure Use

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Across a series of simulator studies, we have observed that some nuclear power plant operator

crews struggle when faced with non-standard emergency scenarios (Halden Work Report 1121, 995, 981,

955, 915). This is not surprising, since simulator training often focuses on reliably executingprocedures, but may not adequately prepare crews for unexpected complications. When the

procedures no longer fit the situation, crews need to adapt by making an independent assessment

of the situation and developing an alternative strategy. The crew’s adaptive capacity depends on a

number of factors, including workload, complexity of the problem, operational culture (e.g.

organisational expectations on procedure adherence), process and procedure knowledge, crew

resource management, time pressure, and operator support systems.

In this experiment, our intention is not merely to document and understand performance

deficiencies, but to test a range of measures for reducing performance problems in these complex

situations. We therefore developed an experimental design with two independent variables, namely

Shift Technical Advisor (STA; available / unavailable), and support tools (available / unavailable),resulting in 4 conditions. The support tools are a new large screen overview display with a focus on

safety, and a procedure overview tool that provides easy access to procedure backgrounds. Each

participating crew (6 Swedish and 6 from the U.S.) perform one scenario per condition.

Procedure support tool Part of large screen display

We developed four emergency scenarios with added complications. In each scenario, strict

procedure adherence will not lead to optimal recovery. Instead, operators have to take knowledge-

based actions. Using the procedure backgrounds will help them develop the correct strategy.

Dependent variables include task performance measures (task completion; performance time;

errors), observer-rated process understanding, and self-rated task demands. In addition, we collect

eye tracking data, and for some crews record EEG and ECG to measure fatigue and workload.

While the data collection is still on-going, early indications show performance variability among the

crews; the effectiveness of the STA seems to depend on the degree of independence from the

crew; the procedure tool was used less than expected; process and procedure knowledge seem to

be critical factors for resilience; there were signs of fatigue as early as 45 minutes into the scenario,

and this may affect the crew’s problem solving; teamwork and communication seem to suffer as

fatigue increases. We also observed that the digital control room interface enabled new teamwork

practices that seem to boost both the reliability and resilience of emergency operation.

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resilient procedure use

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