Complex index assessment of operator's reliability in the control room

Operator's reliability in control room (CR) is largely influenced by the design of CR elements (control desk, display panel), compliance between the operator and these elements and influence of work environment on operator's work. Therefore, the methodological approach described in this paper was based on multidisciplinary research of human factors (operator's information processing task, motoric and logical task, human error, monotony, overload, stress); workplace (adjustment of workplace to anthropometrical and physiological characteristics of the operator), and indoor environment factors (illumination, brightness, noise level, air temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity). By using results of this research, we determined the values and positions of indicators of operator's reliability in the CR for monitoring and control of soybean oil hexane extraction process in Bioprotein factory. These indicators are then ranked by importance using the paired comparison method. Finally, a complex index of operator's reliability was determined. The index represents the degree of operator's suitability for the performance of a specific task. This research determines quantitative parameters for evaluating the reliability of operator's activities in CR. Those parameters could be used to detect omissions in operator's activities influenced by inadequate ergonomic design of CR elements and negative impacts of a CR environment.