Whitepaper

Alarm Management for SCADA control rooms

Definition of the term “alarm” An alarm is an audible and/or visible means of indicating to
The concept of alarms (French for “a l’arme” which means
the operator an equipment malfunction, process deviation,
“spring to arms”) is very old and originates from the military
or abnormal condition requiring a response.
concept where a guard warns his fellows in case of an attack. In Definition of the term “alarm” according to ISA-18.2
process control, alarms have a very long tradition as well (e.g., The definition means that an alarm must indicate a problem, not
a whistle indicating that water is boiling) and have evolved over a normal process condition. The target audience of an alarm
time with older plants were using panels with bulbs and bells to
should be operators, not engineers, maintenance technicians, or
alert the operators to large screen displays full of information.
managers.

However, in today’s control room we often encounter the situation Today’s reality in many control rooms is different: most of the
where the operators are flooded with too many alarms. Hence occurring alarms have little or no value for the operators.
making it difficult to decide where to focus their actions.
Human capacity is limited
Alarm configuration seems to be an easy task Theoretically, every alarm shown to the operators should be
Historically, the configuration of the Panel Boards has been meaningful and require operator action (see EEMUA 191).
expensive, because each alarm required extra hardware and EEMUA 191 has emphasized the fact that the human capacity to
wiring. Therefore the designers of a control room put absorb alarms is limited. If this limit is exceeded for longer periods
considerable thought in the decision of whether an alarm was of time, it is likely that important alarms will be overlooked, and in
meaningful or not. This form of implicit alarm management often extreme cases the whole alarm system might be more or less
resulted in good quality operator interfaces. With the introduction ignored.
of computerized control systems like the current generation of
Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, the The guideline EEMUA 191 published first in 1999 and the
cost associated with alarm configuration has been significantly standard ISA 18.2 published in 2009 have profoundly changed
reduced. Therefore, it is easy to configure several alarms on the way alarms are engineered in modern control systems.
each and every point.
EEMUA 191 focuses on the properties of the operator’s
Engineers tend to hesitate before removing an alarm when information processing capabilities. It emphasizes the usability of
unsure if the alarm is relevant. Modern field devices are able to an alarm system from the operator’s perspective. If the operator
generate a multitude of diagnostic messages, many of them is overloaded with alarms, the whole alarm system becomes
issued as alarms. This typically results in huge amounts of useless. The document specifies several measurable
configured alarms. As a consequence, during operation, performance indicators that can be used to benchmark a plant’s
operators receive huge amounts of alarms, even during normal alarm system performance, for example:
operation. Today it is very common to receive more than 2,000 - Long term average alarm rate in steady operation: less than
alarms a day per operator. Most of those alarms are nuisance 1 alarm in 10 minutes
alarms that provide no value for the operators. - Number of alarms during first 10 minutes after a major plant
upset: under 10
Permanent high alarm rates indicate bad alarm quality - Alarm priority distribution: high (5%) - medium (15%) - low
More and more companies understand that these high alarm (80%) - Average fewer than 10 standing alarms.
rates are not acceptable and have an adverse effect on operator
effectiveness. Alarm system quality improvement projects – often
with the help of Alarm Management specialists – can rapidly Of course these figures are only rough estimates and need to be
result in impressive alarm rate reductions, e.g., by 50% or more adapted to the specific requirements of an individual control
and actually lead operators to perform their jobs more effectively. rooms
But due to the dynamic nature of the operations, the alarm
system quality will degrade over time after it has been reached. Guidelines and standards
If it becomes part of the daily work procedures to manage the
alarm system quality, to ensure that the alarm system continues The Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association
to be a useful resource for safe and efficient control room (EEMUA) published the first edition of their document 191 “Alarm
operation. Systems” in 1999, second edition in 2007 and third edition in
2013. ABB was actively involved in the writing of EEMUA 191.
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Since 1999 several other guidelines, standards and books on EEMUA 191 introduces several easy to measure Key
alarm management have been written, all in the spirit of EEMUA Performance Indicators (KPI) that allow to estimate the quality of
191. The standard ISA SP 18.2 “Management of Alarm Systems an alarm system.
for the Process Industries” was published in 2009. The latest
addition is the IEC 62682 “management of alarm systems for the The common expectation is that operators should never overlook
process industries” published late 2014. This latest edition is important alarms. However it’s important to understand that
further emphasizing the need for continuous alarm lifecycle human operators have a limitation to the extent to which they can
management. operate effectively to a period of high level uploading. EEMUA
191 recommends that the alarm rate in normal operation should
be below 1 alarm in 10 minutes.
Guidelines like the above have rapidly gained worldwide
acceptance as good engineering practice for alarm EEMUA 191 is a guideline for Alarm management and not
management. Today, the Standard ISA SP 18.2, which builds mandatory. The document is recognized by a number of
on the guideline EEMUA 191 can be seen as the most regulatory bodies as good practice. EEMUA 191 focuses on the
normative alarm management document. properties of the operator’s information processing capabilities. It
emphasizes the usability of an alarm system from the operator’s
perspective. A second version of EEMUA 191 was published in
2007.

Figure 3 - Overall alarm system performance level

EEMUA 191
In 1999, the Engineering Equipment and Materials Users ISA SP 18.2
Association (EEMUA) produced its Publication 191, “Alarm The ISA SP 18.2 standard “Management of Alarm Systems for
Systems, a guide to design, management and procurement” the Process Industries” has been published in 2009. The
EEMUA is a non-profit distributing, industry association run for committee has wide representation from users, vendors and
the benefit of companies that own or operate industrial facilities. consultants. As ISA SP 18.2 is based on work and ideas from
EEMUA 191 has become the worldwide de-facto standard for EEMUA 191 and is a standard (not a guideline as EEMUA 191),
Alarm Management. It explains how the quality of alarm systems it is likely that ISA SP 18.2 will take over the role of EEMUA 191
should be managed. as the worldwide de-facto standard for alarm management.

A key idea of EEMUA 191 is that the cognitive resources of The scope of ISA SP 18.2 is to establish terminology and
operators are limited and therefore should not be overloaded with practices for alarm systems, including the definition, design,
alarms. The conclusion is obvious: ever y alarm should be useful installation, operation, maintenance, modification and work
and relevant to the operator. There should be no alarm without a processes recommended to effectively maintain an alarm system
predefined operator response.

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over time. Alarm system management includes multiple work ABB’s alarm management vision
processes throughout the alarm system life-cycle. ABB has a long-term involvement in and a strong commitment to
standards like EEMUA 191, ISA SP 18.2 and IEC62682.
Involvement with these standards coupled with ABB’s long-term
experience with all sorts of processes and control rooms, has led
to the following vision for alarm management:
- Each alarm should alert, inform and guide
Optimize Define - Alarms should be presented at a rate that operators can deal
with
- Detectable problems should be alarmed as early as possible -
Cost/benefit of alarm engineering should be reasonable

Alarm SCADAvantage and AlarmInsight, implements ABB’s newest

technologies to bring this vision to reality. Regarding the alarm
system, there are two parts that can be distinguished but not
separated:
- Optimization of the alarm system - Optimization of the HMI

Analyze Measure Alarm management lifecycle

Optimizing the alarm management system
In reality, the alarm management system also has a life cycle for
the conception, application and maintenance of the
corresponding systems that consists of several phases:
- Definition / engineering
- Measurement
- Analysis
- Optimization / rationalization

Alarm management system

Careful planning and conception is as important for the alarm
system as it is for the whole plant. The same applies for
documentation - it is equally important for the whole plant as for
the alarm management system.

Alarm philosophy document

The first step in implementing an alarm management system
should be a corporate alarm philosophy document that describes
how alarms should work in a control room. It defines a consistent
alarm philosophy for generating alarms in the control room.

The alarm philosophy document is the basis for the specification

of the alarm attributes in SCADAvantage and Alarm Insights. This
includes the basic alarm system (thresholds, priorities, grouping,
As was discussed with EEMUA 191, ISA SP 18.2 proposes Key etc.) as well as more advanced alarming techniques like state
Performance Indicators (KPI). These KPIs are easy to measure based alarming or the presentation of alarms in the Graphic User
Interface (GUI).
and can be used to estimate the quality of an alarm system.
Measuring the alarm system quality is an important precondition
for quality control and quality improvement – because only what
is being measured can be controlled. Depending on industry and
site-specific requirements adaptations of these KPIs will make
sense. The important step is to define KPIs and continuously
monitor them.
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Alarm engineering If the alarm system quality has degraded, the reasons for this
Alarm engineering is the process of configuring and reviewing degradation need to be analyzed, and actions to fix these
alarms against the principles of the alarm philosophy and problems need to be per formed. For example if new operating
determining and documenting the rationale and design procedures are driving the process more to its borders, the old
requirements for the alarm. This includes the basis for the alarm alarm thresholds might be too tight and might need to be adapted
setting, the consequence of deviation, and corrective action that to the new operating procedures. If a broken measurement
should be taken by the operator. Further rationalization also
instrument permanently generates alarms, this instrument needs
includes the prioritization of alarms based on the mechanism
to be repaired or exchanged.
defined in the alarm philosophy or its removal.

Alarm analysis Standard alarm reports (EEMUA 191 and ISA SP 18.2 compliant)
To sustain effective operation, it is important to have a well are already integrated and preconfigured e.g.,
configured alarm system and to measure and analyze this system - Most-frequent alarms
constantly. - Longest-standing alarms
- Average time to acknowledge alarms over time (trend)
The alarm philosophy document defines the KPIs describing the - Alarm priority distribution
required alarm system quality. In the initial plant setup these KPIs - Number of disabled alarms, inhibited alarms, shelved alarms
may (or may not) reach the desired quality. But a plant usually and hidden alarms over time (trend)
changes all the time (modifications, extensions, wear and tear) Individual reports for ever y desired time frame and every desired
and it cannot be assumed that a once reached quality level can range of alarms can easily be generated by an easy to use drag-
be kept for long periods. Therefore a continuous monitoring and-drop inter face. With these reports, it is easy to determine
mechanism needs to be implemented, that compares the current which alarms cause the most disturbance and which are nuisance
with the desired quality level. alarms.

Alarm optimization
Regular measurement of the alarm performance indicators is
During alarm optimization the results of alarm measurement,
crucial for maintenance and optimization of the system. Alarm
analysis are transferred to the process.
management is often implemented as part of the continuous
Define – Measure – Analyze – Improve – Control (DMAIC) cycle Alarm management lifecycle
in Six Sigma programs. Since the processes constantly change, the alarm management
system has to be checked regularly and modified if necessary
Systematic alarm management usually reveals weak spots in the
process and can therefore help to directly improve operation
performance.

Alarm frequency analysis

Alarms over time analysis

The operator guidance given by a high quality alarm system will

further improve the plants performance.

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 Additionally statistical evaluations are integrated directly with the
message client to improve the search for each cause of
disturbance.

State-based alarm hiding removes unnecessary alarms

Optimizing operator workload improves effectiveness, especially
during critical situations, this is a key function of alarm hiding and
alarm shelving.

Improving Operator effectiveness

Alarm summary data values
When an alarm is triggered, an operator’s response is based on
the information and sequence of events data available via the
Alarm shelving
alarm list. The better this list is, the more appropriate the
operators’ reaction and the quicker the problem gets resolved in
Alarm hiding is set up during the engineering phase. Its main
the manner intended.
purpose is to suppress alarms that are either expected or not
The way an alarm is presented thus dictates how effectively it is relevant in a particular situation, or that are based on a known
handled. In SCADAvantage alarm management for example, process state eg, low temperatures or flow during a controlled
operators can acknowledge all visible alarms, and enter shutdown. As the name suggests, ‘hidden’ alarms are never
comments for individual alarms that are recorded in the events visible to operators. They only see alarms that require action on
list. Navigation to the corresponding event list is simple and their part.
direct.
Alarm shelving
Shelving lets operators decide whether or not to put an alarm ‘on
Direct navigation from alarm list to actual values and related information
the shelf’ for a defined period of time or a certain occurrence. This
temporarily removes it from the main alarm list to a special list,
but the alarm itself is not affected. It will later require attention
from the operator. In the meantime, the operator can concentrate
on tasks judged to require their immediate focus. Simple
navigation makes alarm shelving a valuable and much-
appreciated tool that helps operators work with maximum
efficiency.

The visible part of SCADAvantage alarm lists always gives

direct access to the actual values of the parameters that have
triggered the alarm.
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 configurable period of time, other Users may be defined that the
callout module will subsequently contact. The callout module
supports several callout methods including:
• Numeric Page
• Voice
• E-mail/Alpha-Numeric Page
• Voice via Sound Card
• Text via Serial Port
• SMS Text to smart phone device

Consistent alarm-response navigation gives fast access to

essential information
Should a situation become urgent, the operator needs support to
shorten the time from the alarm occurring to finding the root
cause and taking corrective action. SCADAvantage alarm
management provides this support with direct access from the
alarm message to all available, alarm-related information.

Alarm grouping When an alarm is triggered and operators need specific

information on what that particular part is and does, as well as
how they should react, they are just one click away from the
faceplate, graphic display, operating manual or live video image

Implementation of the alarm system

Since operators are an essential part of the alarm system,
operator training is an essential activity during system
implementation and/or during bigger rationalization audits. The
alarm philosophy document should describe how testing and
training have to be documented and which modifications will
require retesting and/or retraining.

SCADAvantage alarm list

Modern alarm management - bringing together safety and
effectivity
Alarm grouping replaces long lists Working with a user friendly alarm management system like
The aim of alarm grouping is not unlike that of alarm hiding and SCADAvantage improves an operator’s ability to navigate,
analyze and act in a timely and correct manner. Knowing at once
alarm shelving; to reduce the number of events listed, thereby
helping operators handle key tasks with their full, undistracted what an alarm means and how best to deal with it, increases plant
attention. availability and thereby productivity. As well as helping secure the
investment made in the facility, this also protects the individuals
working there and the surrounding environment.
A group alarm is a single alarm that is presented instead of
several individual alarms. The individual alarms are generally
related to a common process unit or a similar operator response.
By minimizing the number of alarm list entries that have to be
read and assessed, alarm grouping helps operators work more
effectively.

Alarm Callout
With the callout module, SCADAvantage is capable of contacting
a person by a variety of methods when an alarm is generated.
System may be configured to generate a callout based on an
escalation list that defines a number of users who are to be
contacted by specified methods. The callout module includes
mechanisms that allow for escalation of a callout if the associated SCADAvantage alarm list
alarm that initiated the callout is not acknowledged within a
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Contact us

ABB Inc.
#110, 2 Smed Lane SE
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
Website: Link
Email: SCADAvantage.info@abb.com