Observation - std55050059

DOE-EM-STD-5505-96

Activity drills

Maintenance and special operations controlled from the control area

Excessive and extraneous communication to and from the control room, for example persons

calling the control room to have persons paged, phone calls not related to official business.

There are several aspects of activities in the control area that can be assessed during these

situations. For example, while observing the startup of a system or component the following

might be observed:

Control of personnel access into the control area and the "at-the-controls" area

Behavior and atmosphere in the control area by operators on shift and other personnel in the

area

Operator response to indications as valves are operated and system components are energized

or deenergized

Operator response to alarms and abnormal conditions

Operation of control area equipment by operators

Use of status boards in the control area

Ancillary duties performed by control area operators

Control area operators should not be overburdened with administrative responsibilities, and

control area access should be limited so that operators will not be distracted from properly

monitoring facility parameters.

During the assessment, control area operators from each shift should be observed to get a broad

picture of the level of knowledge, skill, and qualification of operators. If possible, these

observations should start at shift turnover since vital information about the operating status of

equipment and systems, maintenance and operations in progress is passed between shifts during

turnover.