Citation

Bobko N, Karpenko A, Gerasimov A, Chernyuk V. Int. J. Ind. Ergonomics 1998; 21(3-4): 333-340.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Power plants' operation personnel have to maintain high efficiency and reliability of their professional performance at any time of day or night. At the same time, their mental performance is changing under the influence of circadian rhythms and other incoming factors. The object of this study is to reveal the circadian changes of the power plants' control room operators' performance. The mental performance for the control room operators in Chornobyl NPP and Kurakhovo HPP was investigated. There were revealed significant changes for a number of the mental performance parameters during work shifts, that is not typical for the other PPs' operative personnel. In the ChNPP 25% of the operators showed significant intershift performance differences, while in the ordinary HPP -- 15%. The work conditions in both PPs are relatively unfavourable. Hence, professionally adapted power plant shiftworkers in a balanced state and in case there are no unfavourable factors, maintain the professional performance at a relatively constant level at different times of day or night, smoothing away different incoming influences. Under unfavourable working conditions the general functional state of shiftworkers may deteriorate, the level of adjustment may worsen and emphasis of within- and intershift differences in their performance may increase. The significance of the within- and intershift performance differences can be considered as an appropriate criterion of the general functional state of the shiftworkers to supervise it by means of computer systems. Relevance to industryShiftwork, which is widespread in industry, including enterprises of continuous working, is a factor in work tensity promotion. Combined influence of this and additional unfavourable factors of work conditions leads to the deterioration of the operators' reliability. This fact can have the most essential consequences in the "human-machine" systems in which humans play a major role (energetics, transport, military matter, etc.). Computer monitoring of the operator performance should permit to solve some shiftwork problems in industry.