Background

A properly implemented alarm system can reduce operator work load, improve situational awareness and aid the operator in preventing minor deviations from becoming major incidents. A poorly implemented system adds to workload, increases frustration, stress, and confusion, and can ultimately impact safety, reliability, production, and profitability.

Does the following seem familiar?

• During plant upsets are the alarms coming in so fast that your console operator has someone stand next to them and press the silence button

• Your console operators pick their own alarms settings

• Alarms are configured, but no one knows why they were set at that particular value

• Your console operators only look at the screen when the alarm goes off

• You have pages of disabled or standing alarms

• Your site does not have a clearly written, well understood, and fully implemented alarm management philosophy

You are not alone, but before you go out and fix it you need to understand where you are today.

Service Description

The gap analysis analyses the current state of your site’s alarm system, benchmarking it versus EEMUA, ISA and ASM® Best Practices.

The first step in the Assessment is to collect data on the current performance of the plant’s alarm system. There is commercially available software that manages and tracks the performance of the plant alarm system. If the Client already has this type of software, we can use the existing data. If the plant does not have this software UCDS can arrange to install the appropriate software during this data gathering period. If the Client would prefer to purchase this software for continuing use UCDS can recommend Vendors.

Next, we schedule a site visit to evaluate the current alarm system. UCDS will visit the site for three days. During the visit UCDS performs interviews with multiple representatives of the departments involved in the management, implementation, use, and maintenance of the alarm system. This typically includes: Senior Management, Department Management, Instrument Engineers, Instrument Supervisors and Technicians, Process Engineers, Training Supervisors, Trainers, Procedure Writers, Control System Engineers and Technicians, Operations Supervision (all levels,) Field and Console Operators, Health and Safety, and Process Safety Management. After the site visit and data analysis a report will be generated detailing the current state of the site alarm system along with identifying specific gaps versus Best Practices.

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