From 14 to 16 November 2016, the PSA carried out an audit of alarm load and working conditions (i.e. Human Factors – HF) in the central control room at the Nyhamna facility. A/S Norske Shell (Shell) is the operator of the plant.

Objective

The objective of the audit was to investigate whether the alarm systems give the control room operators the necessary support in managing the processing facility in different operational situations. An audit was also made of Shell's mapping and follow-up of the physical working conditions in the control room. This also included an assessment of instruction and training of the control room operators and their workload.

Result

No non-conformities were detected during this audit.

However, improvement points were identified in connection with:

  • Quality control of specific governing documents
  • Simulator training
  • Foot traffic in the central control room
  • The sound level of alarms
  • Alarm load 
  • Follow-up of recommendations in HF studies

Shell has been given a deadline of 15 January 2017 to report on how the improvement points will be assessed.