Engineering & Design

Ergonomics/Human Factors is user centred design. For design and engineering of control centres, there are many different topics to be handled. Workplaces have to be designed and positioned in the room. Controls and displays have to be developed, which includes the display of all sorts of information. In this section you will find some background on the design of workplaces, layouts, and information.

Workplace Design

What comes first: room layout or workplace design? Neither: both design issues are related. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile starting with a so-called foot-print of a standard operator desk. Read more.

Control Centre Layout

Usually, several operator workstations as well as additional furniture, need to be located in the control centre. The operator workstations are the starting point. Maybe there is a need for a permit handling desk, a social area, a shared videowall system, etc. Read more on layout design criteria.

Work Environment

Once the control centre layout is determined, environmental factors need to be considered. Detailed engineering is required for lighting, ventilation/HVAC, and acoustics. Read more.

Information Design

Key to the operator job is process information, also indicated as HMI (Human Machine Interaction) or HCI (Human Computer Interaction). Information comes in various formats, mainly visual: process control graphics, an alarm management system, process overviews, and CCTV-systems. Read more on the design of integrated information display.