HUMAN FACTORSin LDCs

Productivity

Absence

Turnover

Satisfaction

HumanOutput

Organizational Culture

Human ResourcesPolicies and

Practices

Organizational Change and

Development

Organizational Structure

Job Designand PhysicalEnvironment

GroupDecision Making

Leadership

Group Dynamics

Power and Politics

Conflict

Communication

BiographicalCharacteristics

Personality

Values andAtitudes

Ability

Perception

Motivation

LearningHumanInput

ORGANISATIONALSYSTEM LEVEL

GROUP LEVEL

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Objective

Human Factors consideration in Load Despatch Centre

• Physical Considerations

• Information Considerations

• Stress

• Human Relationship

Work Environment of the Dispatcher

• Lighting

• Noise

• Atmospheric Control

• Consoles

• Seating

• Supporting Facilities

Display of Data & Information

• Data vis-à-vis Information

• Displays

• Display of Gross Power

• Wallboard Display

• CRT display Formats

Stress in System Operation

• Occupational Stress• Effect on Job Performance

• Health

• Rotating shifts• Illness

• Physical Complaints

• Drug & Alcohol Consumption

• Less Satisfactory Domestic & Social lives

Rank Order of Sources of Stress1. Delays in receiving important information

2. Consequences of making an error

3. Insufficient Information

4. Deadlines, Time Pressure

5. Work Schedules, Shift work

6. Workload

7. Alarms

8. Shifting quickly from periods of little activity to periods of peak activity

9. Unnecessary Information

10. Management

11. Paperwork

12. Communication with the company

13. Communication outside the company

14. Boredom

15. Co-workers

16. Layout of the Control room (equipment, work-space etc)

Frequently Reported Effects of Dispatch Operators Stress

• Job Performance• Absenteeism

• Resignation

• Failure to Perform in Emergencies

•Physical•Cardiovascular angina, Hypertension, Stroke

•Gastro-intestinal ulcers, Colitis

•Complaints – Insomnia, fatigue, tension & migraine headaches

•Psychological•Anxiety

•Alcoholism

•Marital & Family Problem

Human Relationship

Impact of co-workers

Peers are important in dispatchers’ jobs which entail• The physically restricted console area at which the

job is performed

• The shift work aspects

• The magnitude of their actual or perceived responsibilities

• The common interfaces to others’ areas of responsibilities which they share

Human Relationship –

Attitude in Load Dispatch CentreAttitude in Load Dispatch Centre

TWO EXTREMES

Great individual effort going toward assuming no blame and little interchanges of information between people

Great protective fraternity and much conversation, little of which would be constructive

The Open Group attitude may produce better result because of

• Understanding of their power system

• Understanding of alternatives

• Confidence

• Ability to communicate with speed and accuracy

• Speed of responses to unanticipated events

Human Relationship –

Attitude in Load Dispatch CentreAttitude in Load Dispatch Centre

ONE EXTREME

Human Relationship –

Impact of ManagementImpact of Management

• We trust you and place confidence in you

•We expect you run our system

•We expect you to think and use common sense and good judgment in deciding what action to take and then do it

•If you think you made a mistake we would appreciate being brought into your confidence and discussing that also

•We expect you to use judgement in communicating, that is let the people know about events which occur which affect their work

•We welcome your sincere suggestions which may bring improvements to the operation of our power system

Human Relationship –

Impact of ManagementImpact of Management

OTHER EXTREME

• Distrust between operators and management

•Little can be accomplished without going through the highly structured line organization

•Few guidelines

•An overabundances of highly detailed procedures

•Inability to take action without referring to procedures

•A seeming over-reliance on ‘blame’ establishment as a disciplinary tool as distinguished from education

IMPROVING HUMAN PERFORMANCE IN THE

CONTROL ROOM

Model of Human Performance

PerformanceGoals

Motivation“Want to perform”

Skills & Knowledge“Know how to perform”

Operating Aids

“Have resources to Perform”

The JobPerformance

Results

Work Environment

•“Suitable condition to perform”•Physical•Psychological•Organizational•BusinessBusiness

Environment

Human PerformanceGoal Setting and Feedback

Issues

• What Performance measure should be used? How should they be defined? How can we assure coherence among different measures?

• Who should perform the evaluation? What instruments(e.g. check sheets, computer generated measures) could be used?

•To what extent can performance measurement on a dispatcher training simulator (DTS) substitute for measurement on the job?

•Should evaluation be of the team or the individual?

•How frequently should the evaluation be performed?

•What system should be established for diagnosing the cause of mismatch between goals and results – root cause analysis.

•If the operators are performing according to the rules or procedures, how can we distinguish the quality of their performance from that of the rules that they follow?

• At the heart of the performance system is the JOB itself

Human PerformanceThe Job

•Nature of the job including job pace

•Level of responsibility

•Variety

•Complexity

JOB

PERFORMANCE

JOB

PERFORMANCE

Human PerformanceThe Job

Traditional Functional

Areas

Emerging Functional Areas

• Load Forecasting

• Unit Commitment

• Outage Planning

• Generation Control

• Frequency Regulation

• Energy Interchange

• Monitoring System Security

•Voltage Control

•Switching / Supervisory Control

•Emergency Response

•System Restoration

• Energy Trading

• Market Place Bidding

• Procurement of Ancillary Services

• Constraint / Congestion Mangement

Human Performance The JobData Requirements Timelines Number of

OptionsComplexi

-ty of Decision

Routine

Decisions

• Little Data

•Readily available

•Little analysis

Time is not significant

•Few options

•Often driven by procedures

Minimal

Normal Operating

Decisions

• Data readily available

• Operation gets additional data as needed

• Requires data analysis for quality

Sufficient

•Many options

•Options often at multiple points in process

Medium

Operating Decisions in Emergency/ Restorative State

• data may be incorrect or not readily available

•Careful analysis required

•May need analysis assistance from supervisor or others

Time may be limited

• Many options at multiple points in response

High

The Business Environment

• Changes in the utility business environment impact system operator’s job As well as performance cycle in which it is embedded.

• System operator’s decision making must be adjusted to reflect market concerns.

• Few other factors• Business culture

• Changing external regulations

• Shift of priorities

• Changes in traditional structures and operating standard

• Extrinsic Motivators

» Salary, Rewards etc

• Intrinsic Motivators

» Job Satisfaction

MOTIVATION

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Entry Level Requirements

• Training

• Broad Range of tools

• Systems

• Documents• Procedures

• Analytical Decision aids

• On-Line Helps

• Expert System

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• PHYSICAL FACTORS

• PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

• ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS

WORK ENVIRONMENT

PHYSICAL FACTORS

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• System operation is a high-stress job

• There are negative as well as positive aspect of stress

•Stress to a certain level improves performance.

Performance tends to deteriorate both under the intense stress of a critical emergency and in the absence of simulation or some level of challenge

• Complicated tasks are more affected by stress than simple tasks

• Complicated tasks are more affected by stress than simple tasks

• When dealing with several tasks in parallel, the secondary tasks are more affected by stress than the primary task.

PHYSICAL FACTORS

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Short term memory is affected by stress

• Stress will cause amore primitive style of decision making

• Lonesome work can cause stress

Means of preventing negative stress

PHYSICAL FACTORS

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• The work should contain variation and opportunities for improvement

• The Physical and mental strain of the work should not be unreasonable

• Individuals should have adequate knowledge and skills for the task

• Adequate training should be provided

Means of preventing negative stressPHYSICAL FACTORSWORK ENVIRONMENT

• There should be continuous feedback on the performance of the individual

• There should be a good social environment and team spirit at work

• There should be a social safety net for individuals who fail

• The MMI should be well designed with adequate feedback on actions

• Disturbances like noise, etc. should be minimized

• Career Opportunities

• Reward Systems

• Management Style

ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS

WORK ENVIRONMENT

What Medical Science Says?

Excerpts from

Preventive & Social Medicine

by Dr. K. Park

Definition of Occupational Health

“occupational health should aim at the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well being of workers in all occupations”

Occupational Environment

The sum of external conditions and influences which prevail at the place of work and which have a bearing on the health of the working population.

There are three types of interaction in a working environment

1. Man and physical, chemical & biological agents

2. Man and Machine

3. Man and Man

Prevention of occupational Diseases

MEDICAL MEASURES

Pre-placement examination

Periodic Examination

Medical and Health care services

Notification

Supervision of working environment

Maintenance and analysis of records

Health education and counseling

ENGINEERING MEASURES Design of building Good house keeping General ventilation Mechanization Substitution Dusts Enclosure isolation Local exhaust ventilation Protective deviceEnvironmental monitoringStatistical MonitoringReasearch

Prevention of occupational Diseases

LIGISLATION

The Factories Act, 1948

The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948

Prevention of Occupational Diseases

VALUES

• Values represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence

• Values have both content and intensity attributes.

• Values generally influence attitudes and behaviuor

As per ‘Allport and his Associates’

1. Theoretical

2. Economic

3. Aesthetic

4. Social

5. Political

6. Religious

TYPES OF VALUES

As per recent studies

1. Reactive

2. Tribalistic

3. Egocentrism

4. Conformity

5. Manipulative

6. Sociocentric

7. Existential

Hierarchy of levels that are descriptive of personal values and life styles

Attitude• Sources of attitude

• From parents

• Teachers

• Peer groups

• Types - relevant to organization

• Job Satisfaction

• Job Involvement

• Organizational Commitment

What is Stress?

“Stress is a dynamic condition in

which an individual is confronted with

an opportunity, constrain or demand

related to what he or she desires and

for which the outcome is perceived to

be both uncertain and important”

Job Stress

Stress is not necessarily bad in and of itself It also has positive value

Stress is associated with constraints and

demand Stress creates some very real costs to organizations

Stress is additive

People react differently to stress situations

HighStress

Low

Per

form

ance

High

Low

Organizational variables• Organizational level• Horizontal differentiation• Authority demands• Job characteristics• Work setting

Group variables•Group norms•Role conflicts•Leadership styles

Individual variables• Age• Tenure• Personality

Jobstressors

Feltstress

Jobsatisfaction

Productivity

Turnover

“According to the principles of the United

Nations, WHO and ILO, every citizen of the

world has a right to healthy and safe work

and to a work environment that enables him

or her to live a socially and economically

productive life.”

Excerpts from WHO report