Learn best practices for alarm management in AVEVA Plant SCADA to reduce alarm floods, improve operator response, and meet ISA 18.2 standards.
Poorly configured alarms are one of the biggest causes of operator overload in control rooms. Alarm floods — where hundreds or thousands of alarms occur in a short period — make it impossible to distinguish real problems from background noise.
AVEVA Plant SCADA provides powerful tools to configure, filter, and rationalize alarms. When used correctly, these tools help operators stay focused on the most critical events, improving safety, compliance, and operational efficiency.
1. Alarm Philosophy: Set the Foundation
Every plant should begin with an alarm philosophy document, outlining:
- What qualifies as an alarm (vs. event or notification).
- Severity levels (Critical, High, Medium, Low).
- Operator response expectations.
Example: Instead of treating every minor deviation as an alarm, only deviations that require operator action should trigger alarms.
2. Prioritize and Rationalize Alarms
- Classify alarms by severity and consequence.
- Remove nuisance alarms that don’t require action.
- Combine redundant alarms into single high-level alerts.
Best Practice: Follow ISA 18.2 or EEMUA 191 guidelines for alarm management.
3. Use Suppression, Shelving, and Delays
- Suppression: Temporarily mute alarms during maintenance.
- Shelving: Allow operators to hide nuisance alarms for a defined period.
- Delays: Prevent chattering alarms by requiring a condition to persist for X seconds before triggering.
Example: Instead of alarming every time a pump pressure drops for 1 second, configure a 5-second delay to capture only genuine trips.
4. Group and Filter Alarms Logically
- Group alarms by equipment or process area.
- Provide operators with filters and dashboards to quickly identify what matters.
- Ensure critical safety alarms remain prominent and unfiltered.
5. Monitor Alarm System Performance
- Track alarms per hour per operator (target <10 per hour for steady-state).
- Review top 10 nuisance alarms monthly and fix them at source.
- Conduct alarm flood analysis after major events.
Example: One site reduced alarm rate from 2,500/hour to 200/hour by rationalizing and suppressing nuisance alerts.
6. Train Operators on Alarm Response
Even the best alarm system fails if operators don’t know how to respond. Provide clear response procedures for each alarm class, and train operators during simulation drills.
An effective alarm system helps operators focus, act quickly, and keep the plant safe. By applying rationalization, suppression, grouping, and monitoring, AVEVA Plant SCADA can deliver alarm systems that meet ISA 18.2 standards and reduce operator stress.
🚨 Take your alarm management skills to the next level:
- In Plant SCADA Training, learn how to configure alarms, categories, and suppression tools.
- In Plant SCADA Advanced Training, go deeper into ISA 18.2 alarm philosophy, rationalization workflows, and advanced reporting.
Register today and gain the skills to design alarm systems that are not just functional, but truly operator-friendly and compliant.
