Industry focus on improving alarm management systems increased following incidents at the Texaco Refinery in Milford Haven and the BP Refinery in Texas City. These incidents were related to bad alarm management practises. The alarm systems meant to keep the process in control and inform operators of deviations were incapable of their basic task and as a result the operators in one case were given faulty alarm information, while in the other case operators were flooded with too much alarm information not allowing timely response.
Proper alarm management reduces ‘call-upon’ emergency shut-down systems and increases safety, taking into account human limits on cognition and load. A good alarm management system allows the operator to keep the process/equipment in control without entering the soft and hard barriers of asset degradation and risk increase.