by “Guest blogger” Bill Hollifield, PAS’s Representative and Voting Member on the ISA 18.02 Committee

In 2003, a committee was formed to begin work on ISA18.02: Management of Alarm Systems for the Process Industries. The committee has had very capable and experienced standards-writing leadership – Nick Sands of Dupont, and Donald Dunn of Aramco. And boy, have they had a difficult job – one that “herding cats” doesn’t even begin to describe!

This month, the standard has finally reached the final comment and internal voting phase. If all goes well, it will be published next year. That will be a significant and important event for the process industries! So, here is some general information about the standard, but remember that it is still in a draft form and not yet finalized.

ISA18.02 is quite different than the “usual” ISA standard. It is not about specifying how some sort of hardware talks to other hardware, or the detailed design of control components. It is about work processes of people. Alarm management isn’t really about hardware or software, it is about work practices (poorly performing alarm systems do not create themselves!) – and thus so is ISA18.02.

ISA18.02 will provide both mandatory and recommended basic alarm management work practices, presented in a “life cycle” framework. The current draft life cycle has 10 stages: Alarm Philosophy, Identification, Rationalization, Detailed Design, Implementation, Operation, Maintenance, Monitoring & Assessment, Management of Change, and Audit.

Three years ago PAS published The Alarm Management Handbook, which provided a proven 7-step methodology for creating or improving an alarm system. The ISA book division, not having a great text on alarm management, read it and then arranged with us to republish it (with minor changes) as Alarm Management: 7 Methods for Optimum Performance. There is no conflict between the PAS 7-step approach and the ISA18.02 “Life Cycle” – there is only different nomenclature and task arrangement. When ISA18.02 is finalized and published, PAS will release a comprehensive paper on understanding and interpreting it – because some of the nomenclature and wording it has is written in “standard-speak” rather than common English!

There are several common misconceptions about standards! By design, standards do not have detailed or specific “how-to” guidance. ISA18.02 will not contain examples of specific proven methodologies or of detailed practices such as are in the Handbook. And, readers of the Handbook should not expect to learn much that is basically “new or different” from reading ISA18.02. The primary items in ISA18.02 that are not in the Handbook have to do with administrative practices such as alarm testing and record keeping (defined in a new “alarm classification” structure).

Don’t take this to diminish the importance of ISA18.02 – it is placing the “stamp of approval” on many important practices that PAS has been advocating and performing for many years!

Remember, standards describe the “minimum acceptable,” and not the optimum. As Nick has told me over 100 times, “Bill, a standard is not a book!” The committee has plans to publish additional explanatory information later in follow-on “ISA technical reports.” This should approach some of the detailed content already existing in the Handbook.

Watch this blog for further information on the progress of ISA18.02: Management of Alarm Systems for the Process Industries.

By "Guest blogger” Bill Hollifield

“There is an evil tendency underlying all our technology – the tendency to do what is reasonable even when it isn't any good.” - Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

In November 2006, Automation World published an article beginning with“If you’re seeking best-practices standards for designing graphical operator-interface displays, you won’t find them.” They were right – then – but not now. Because we were already hard at work...

Over 200 pages. Over 90 color illustrations. Over 45 references. Over two years of effort and collaboration, reflecting well more than 100 person-years of experience. Two companies and four authors. And now it is done! PAS is proud to announce the publication of The High Performance HMI Handbook.

In 2006 we published The Alarm Management Handbook – and were amazed at the positive response. The industry was clearly in need of detailed, proven methods to solve their alarm management problems. Well, proper alarm management solves only part of the problem. Poorly designed and poorly performing Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) are rampant throughout our industries. They can degrade safety, production, quality, and profitability. Time after time they are cited as contributing factors to major industrial accidents.

The High Performance HMI Handbook is the first book that puts together the principles for assessing, designing, and implementing proper process control HMIs. It contains experience and intellectual property that has never before been released. In this book we step up and explain the common bad practices (ouch!), why they are bad, (double ouch!) and show in great detail the best way to design and implement a truly High Performance HMI.

And in addition, we include control-system related quotes that range from NASA personnel to Dolly Parton to the Beach Boys! (No kidding.) The book contains lots of relevant real world examples, anecdotes, and surprises. It is not your usual boring engineering text!

Whether you are a project engineer building a new control system, a manager looking to improve process safety and productivity, or a plant manager trying to impact company culture and at the same time impact company profitability, you will find tremendous value in The High Performance HMI Handbook.

So check out the HMI book webpage, check out the full Table of Contents (to see why it took so long!), and order now - soon to be at major online booksellers!

Drop us a note and let us know what you think about the book.

Ike’s Curse Lingers On

A week after hurricane Ike made landfall, more than 1.5 million people in the Galveston and the Greater Houston area are still without power – including a number of our own PAS family members.

I learned over the weekend that one of our finest came back from evacuation to find much of the roof to his house gone and significant water damage throughout his house. Ike also practically destroyed one of our executives' vehicles and flooded a portion of his house.

The only saving grace last week was the cool front (low 60’s at night, low 80’s at mid-day) that magically appeared after Ike moved out of Texas. And that cool front is now gone – we are once again dealing with 90-degree temperatures and 90% humidity. The most affected by the repressive heat is the elderly. My own in-laws (83 and 80 years old) have been without power for nine days now. The best case scenario calls for their electricity to be restored sometime mid-week.

My father-in-law, a retired Shell Deer Park Refinery veteran of 34 years, loves working in his yard; that’s been his biggest hobby since he retired about twenty years ago. His backyard looked like a war-zone after the hurricane. We spent the weekend cutting down trees – some 45-feet tall, two-feet in diameter – and cleaning up debris. (Great unplanned workout…using muscles I haven’t used in a while. I will be feeling it over the next few days.)  

Meanwhile, ghastly pictures of the aftermath have started to flood the Net and they give a graphic realization of the destruction left behind. From the flattened beach houses (like the one belonging to our own Gayle) to the boat landed in the garden of my favorite restaurant – Villa Capri – and to the confused lion stranded on the beach, the images are unbelievable.

Recovery Begins

The resilient residents of Texas have already begun the recovery effort. Hardware and lumber stores are having a difficult time keeping up with the high demand for building materials.

The free market economy is in full swing; the imbalance in labor supply-and-demand has pushed the price of cutting down a mature tree from, say, typically $300 to well over $1,000. Entrepreneurs from other states have joined the action; tree surgeons, arborists, and plain old lawn keepers have come to the area from as locations as far as Wisconsin. City officials are expressing concern over price gouging.

Certain parts of Houston are beginning to look normal – but that is not the case along the shore lines and lake fronts. We took a drive to Seabook and Kemah on Saturday. Certain sections of Kemah are blocked off with yellow police tape by the authorities as if they were crime zones.

Third Costliest US Hurricane of All Time

At US$27 Billion, Ike is the third costliest hurricane to ever hit the United States – Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew hold the first and second places, respectively. Of course, this is an initial cost estimate for Ike. Based on new discoveries on a daily basis, there is little doubt the cost estimate will continue to rise.

Kudos to the Authorities

The death toll resulting from Ike in the US is about 65 as of the time of this blog. This is far fewer than what could have been, in large part due to the sound planning and execution by the local, state and federal authorities. Unlike hurricane Rita three years ago that led to huge embarrassment for the authorities when hundreds of thousands of motorists evacuating the area were stranded on freeways for more than 24 hours...this time around, the pre-storm planning and the repeated communication with the public paid off. There has been no news of stranded evacuees and freeway parking lots.

To Rebuild (Galveston) or Not, That is the Question?

Some have questioned the wisdom in rebuilding Galveston; after all, it ends up destroyed, requiring reconstruction every so many decades. Should the public – through insurance premium hikes and government relief efforts – pay for the rebuilding of the island in support of its 60,000 or so residents and businesses?

The hurricane of 1900, which wiped out the island and more than 6,000 of its residents, did not stop the reconstruction of the island. In fact, the ingenuity of an engineer named Henry Roberts and the construction of the 17-foot high Galveston Seawall made the island more attractive to tourism and commerce. What new innovation will result from the mess that Ike has left behind that will make the island once again a magnet for beach lovers?

So, what is your answer, To Rebuild Or Not?

Tragedy Hits a PAS Family Member

The extended PAS family fared well for the most part during hurricane Ike except for the grandfather of one of our fine employees who lost his life during the evacuation. We are deeply saddened by the passing of Veronica's grandfather.

The Texas Gulf Coast Devastated by Ike

Ike made its unwelcome landing on the shores of Galveston in the early hours of Saturday, September 13. Although initial forecasts called for a landfall further south near Corpus Christi, Ike veered off course and just like a 60-mile-wide super jumbo jet managed to pinpoint its eye on I-45 as its landing runway. And from there, it mostly stayed the course right into downtown Houston and northbound into Houston Intercontinental airport. As of this morning – two days later – it is still actively causing devastation in the midwest and as far up as Indiana.

PAS Headquarters Goes Distributed and Virtual

The Clear Lake area where our headquarters is located was hit very hard by the storm, leading to significant flooding and destruction. Although we were forced to shut down our operations in Clear Lake, there was fortunately no damage to our building.

As of the time of this blog - more than 48 hours after Ike's landfall - approximately 70% of the greater Houston area is without power; affecting approximately 4.5 million people.

As early as Thursday of last week when we realized the threats were imminent, we kicked in the emergency plans and prepared for the worst. We immediately distributed various functions to remote locations and began going "virtual." Many of our people evacuated the area but have continued staying connected to business, supporting customers.

PAS Users Conference 2008 Postponed

We had hoped that Ike would end up like Rita – change its mind in the last couple of days and head in a different direction – or lose its strength in the gulf. But that did not end up being the case. And unfortunately we were forced to cancel the conference for now.

We were all looking forward to the conference, as it was going to be our very best ever – with excellent papers, a superb panel of executives discussing the aging workforce issue and with our highest attendee participation ever.

We will reschedule the conference as soon as life returns to normal in our part of the world.

A Reminder

Natural disasters like Ike bring out the best in people. Neighbors, families and friends find a common cause to re-engage and show the basic and natural human instinct to help. Old friends in far distances you haven't heard from call and check up on you, inviting you to their homes for indefinite periods. And the kindness of a complete stranger makes you realize how capable human beings can be in giving. Something to remember when things get back to normal months from now.

Looking forward to writing about more pleasant experiences…Eddie

That’s one approach, but maybe not the best one…

The issue of Aging Workforce can be broken down into two components:

(i) Resource Availability, and
(ii) Knowledge Management.

Resource Availability basically has to do with the net imbalance between retirees and graduates. Aside from some post-retirement contracts or engineering scholarships, there’s not much that the average company can do to solve this problem in the near term.

Knowledge Management is all about keeping track of the intellectual property, the know-how, the set-up, the configurations and operational “tricks” related to the safe operations and profitability of their site. This is something that EVERY COMPANY can do something about.

And it is something that EVERY COMPANY does do something about.

The problem is the way that they do it is…. well…. so out of date.

In the old days, before the advent of computers and software to run the plant, the knowledge for managing the plant was kept in neatly organized binders.

Lots of paper that held the latest and greatest information on the how-to and why’s of running the plant.

And that was fine for that era – a time when change occurred more slowly, operations were less complex and efficiencies were lower.

But today – computers and software are everywhere, even embedded in places we do not see – and the pace of change is faster than ever.

But many companies still persist in following the old way of managing their knowledge. Sure, they have nice SharePoint servers and shared directories, but the creation of the knowledge still follows the same model as before – manually done by an individual.

That could still be ok – if our engineers actually took the time to record all their changes, observations and recommendations.

But they don’t.

As a simple example, consider the modern-day automation system. Easy to use. Easy to change. Too easy to change by too many people.

So nobody – except perhaps the one expert control systems engineer – really knows what all it contains and how it interacts.

And then, before long, the control engineer rotates to a new job or leaves for greener pastures… and takes that knowledge with him.

Not good for knowledge management, that’s for sure.

Fortunately, we at PAS are working on software solutions to better manage knowledge in your plant. About 500 sites worldwide already use our Integrity/DOC4000 software to manage their control system configurations and many more are extending its use to real-time databases, advanced applications and other.

If you’re not using our software to help manage your knowledge, maybe you should.

Because for each retiree who leaves, there are likely two or three others who rotate out or leave their current position.