Alarms, if not managed properly, could prove to be your Achilles’
heel.
Since the introduction
of Distributed Control Systems (DCS) in the late 1970s, the number of alarms
per operator has gone up dramatically. Many Operators today are inundated with
thousands of alarms on a daily basis, which is much higher than industry accepted
guidelines. Too many alarms with little or no contextual information can hinder
the operator’s ability to quickly distinguish the most critical alarms from the
routine process alarms, thereby increasing the risks of potential plant damage
or personal injury. As a matter of fact, alarm floods have been identified as
one of the key contributing factors in a number of industrial incidents. Too
many poorly prioritized alarms were one of the main reasons behind the 1994
explosion and fires at the Texaco Milford Haven refinery; operators had to
analyze and address 275 alarms in the last 11 minutes before the
explosion.
Alarms, if not managed properly, could prove to be your Achilles’
heel.
Since the introduction of Distributed Control Systems (DCS) in the late 1970s, the number of alarms per operator has gone up dramatically. Many Operators today are inundated with thousands of alarms on a daily basis, which is much higher than industry accepted guidelines. Too many alarms with little or no contextual information can hinder the operator’s ability to quickly distinguish the most critical alarms from the routine process alarms, thereby increasing the risks of potential plant damage or personal injury. As a matter of fact, alarm floods have been identified as one of the key contributing factors in a number of industrial incidents. Too many poorly prioritized alarms were one of the main reasons behind the 1994 explosion and fires at the Texaco Milford Haven refinery; operators had to analyze and address 275 alarms in the last 11 minutes before the explosion.
More is not always better
Sometimes insight into the
solution to a problem lies within the problem itself. Such is the case with
alarms. Significant and numerous leaps in Automation technology innovation from
the 1970s to present brought more accessible information per sensor or
actuator, which resulted in more alarms per device. In addition, the use
of software in manufacturing made the process of configuring alarms very easy
and cost effective. Since there was virtually no real cost in engineering or
operating time to add alarms, people started adding alarms at the drop of the
hat, without putting much thought into the context, needs and dynamic nature of
plant processes. And, slowly this trend became a sort of belief–a false belief
actually– that ‘more is better’ and nothing can go un-noticed if everything has
an attached alarm.
More is not always better
Effective alarm management is
the key to plant safety, productivity and profitability. Many manufacturing
facilities, however, do not pay enough attention to alarm systems and rarely
implement well-defined strategies for alarm management. In most cases the
approach remains reactive rather than proactive. Although ROI on alarm management may
not be immediately visible, its long-term returns can be quite substantial and
the potential for negative impact to a company can be dramatic as demonstrated
in the below diagram. Studies show the United States petrochemical industry
suffers a loss of 10 to 20 billion dollars annually due to preventable abnormal
situations.
Poorly designed alarm systems can negatively affect plant performance, profitability and safety. One missed alarm can cost millions of dollars in production losses, equipment and environment damage, and loss of life. BP’s Texas City Refinery explosion of 2005 was one such example, where defective level alarms and poorly designed alarm system were one of the main reasons behind the deadly explosion and fire that killed 15 people and injured 170 more. As seen in the diagram below, the price to pay for poor alarm management can be very high.
Source: ARC
Advisory Group Study; ASM Consortium
Summary
Alarms are basically meant to alert operators so they can minimize
incidents, but sometimes alarms become a key contributor to these incidents.
Nuisance alarms, standing alarms, fleeting alarms, alarm floods and alarms with
wrong priority all contribute to operator stress and confusion, and thus
increase the risks of accidents. Alarm
system management is an
important operational tool that helps plant operators to focus only on the most
important alarms and important conditions, thereby improving the effectiveness
of operations and reducing the risks of downtime and industrial accidents. Alarm
analysis software such as Wonderware Alarm
Adviser can be of great help
to benchmark the existing alarm system, identify nuisance alarms, define KPIs
and create dashboards to maintain performance over time. However, companies
must understand that alarm management is neither about software nor one-time
project implementation; it is a journey toward continuous process improvement.
In the future blog posts we will dig deeper into nuisance alarms and
industry standards on alarm management.
What are your concerns regarding
alarms? Do you have a strategy in place for alarm management? Let us know your
thoughts in the comments section below.
Special
thanks to Suman Singh (sumankumar.singh@schneider-electric.com)
who contributed to this article.
Summary
Alarms are basically meant to alert operators so they can minimize incidents, but sometimes alarms become a key contributor to these incidents. Nuisance alarms, standing alarms, fleeting alarms, alarm floods and alarms with wrong priority all contribute to operator stress and confusion, and thus increase the risks of accidents. Alarm system management is an important operational tool that helps plant operators to focus only on the most important alarms and important conditions, thereby improving the effectiveness of operations and reducing the risks of downtime and industrial accidents. Alarm analysis software such as Wonderware Alarm Adviser can be of great help to benchmark the existing alarm system, identify nuisance alarms, define KPIs and create dashboards to maintain performance over time. However, companies must understand that alarm management is neither about software nor one-time project implementation; it is a journey toward continuous process improvement.
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