1. Is Now Will Be
Who Process Control Engineers Operators, Process Control Engineers,
Process Engineers, Champions
What Global Alarm Management
Guideline draft
Global Alarm Management Guideline,
leveraging our crop protection knowledge
When Site review of the draft Alarms rationalized per area with a 3
year Audit cycleyear Audit cycle
Where ~80% of alarms are
prioritized as High
5 / 15/ 80 %
Critical / Warning / Advisory
How Light-box annunciators to
Distributed Control System
Alarms
Alarms Rationalized, Alarm Response
Procedures, Management of Change,
Monitoring & Assessment, and Audits
Why Poor alarm management
has been identified as a
contributing factor is many
major process incidents.
An ISA 18.2 global alarm philosophy
applied retroactively as far as reasonably
practical to reflect best corporate &
industry practices.
Natalie K. Starfish, P.E.
We are stuck with technology, when what we really wanted
was something that worked. Douglas Adams

2. An alarm is an audible and/or visible means of indicating
There must be an indication of the alarm. An alarm limit can be configured to
generate control actions or log data but if this limit is not audibly or visually
indicated it should not be considered an alarm.
to the operator
The indication must be targeted to the operator to be an alarm, not to provide
information to an engineer, maintenance technician, or manager.
an equipment malfunction, process deviation, or abnormal condition
The alarm must indicate a problem or unexpected situation, not a normal
process condition or expected operational event (e.g., pump stopped, valve
closed).
requiring a response
There must be a defined operator response to correct the abnormal condition
and bring the process back to a desired (safe and/or productive) state. If the
operator does not need to perform a corrective action, such as opening a valve
or starting a pump, then the condition should not be an alarm. Acknowledging
the alarm or logging a measurement is not considered an operator response
since it does not correct the abnormal situation.
Natalie K. Starfish, P.E.
There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in
apprehension than reality. Lucius Annaeus Seneca

3. You do not
really
understand
We cannot
solve our
problems
with the
same thinking
we used when
we created
them.
Albert
Einstein
Natalie K. Starfish, P.E.
In the middle
of difficulty
lies
opportunity.
Albert
Einstein
understand
something
unless you
can explain it
to your
Grandmother.
Albert
Einstein

4. Event Operator Action
Required
No Operator Action
Required (Informational)
Abnormal Alarm Alert
Expected Prompt Message
Metric Benchmark
(World Class )
Target Action
Limit
Average Alarm Rate (alarms TBD < 144 > 288
Alarm Rationalization:
to better Operator Mastery
to yield substantial increases
in Safety and Productivity.
Natalie Starfish
Average Alarm Rate (alarms
per day per operator)
TBD < 144 > 288
Percent of time the alarm
system is in flood
TBD < 1% > 5%
Percent of hours containing
> 30 alarms
TBD < 1% > 5%
Number of Alarms
Suppressed for > 7 days
TBD TBD TBD
Annunciated Priority
Distribution (P3 Priority)
N/A ~80% < 50%
Annunciated Priority
Distribution (P2 Priority)
N/A ~15% > 25%
Annunciated Priority
Distribution (P1 Priority)
N/A ~5% >15%
Natalie K. Starfish, P.E.
The road to success is paved with inconvenience. Bill Allen
If you stand up to be
counted, from time to time
you may get yourself
knocked down. But
remember this: someone
flattened by an opponent
can get up again; but
someone flattened by
conformity stays down for
good. Thomas Watson, Jr.
The best
thing about
the future is
that it
comes one
day at a
time.
Abraham
Lincoln