ABSTRACT
Alarm management refers to the processes used to design, operate, and maintain effective alarm systems in control rooms. These systems support operators in maintaining safe, stable, and predictable operations, particularly during abnormal conditions. As operators increasingly supervise complex processes remotely rather than directly, they rely heavily on alarms and human–machine interfaces to build situational awareness and take timely action. Modern systems differentiate between alarms (which need immediate operator intervention), alerts (which show deviations that require attention when possible), and prompts (system requests for operator confirmation or action). This setup highlights a key principle of alarm management: it is the operator’s ability to respond, not just the system’s ability to generate notifications, that ultimately makes the alarm system effective. Automation and digitalisation have shifted the operator’s role from hands-on control to supervisory management. However, many technological advancements have been primarily driven by engineering possibilities rather than operator needs (Brazier, 2010), creating mismatches between system behaviour and human capabilities. In this context, alarms remain a critical layer of protection, guiding attention to deviations that require immediate human intervention.
When alarm systems are well designed and properly managed, they help keep operations within safe limits. When poorly managed, through nuisance alarms, alarm floods, or incorrect priorities, they overload operators, conceal important information, and degrade situational awareness. Such failures have been repeatedly linked to delayed responses, loss of containment, equipment damage, and major incidents. A human-centred approach is therefore essential to ensure that alarm management supports operator performance rather than undermines it.
This chapter examines alarm management through the lens of human factors engineering, emphasising how operators perceive, interpret, and respond to alarm information in safety-critical settings. It starts by clarifying the role of alarms in the human–system interface, then reviews major accidents where alarm-system deficiencies played a key role.
Current standards and recommended practices are evaluated based on how they define alarm performance, prioritisation, and assessment metrics, and the extent to which they incorporate human-centred considerations. The chapter then discusses persistent human factors challenges, such as alarm overload, cognitive workload, mode confusion, and loss of situational awareness. It also covers emerging issues arising from automation and artificial intelligence, such as trust calibration, transparency, and meaningful human oversight. In response to these challenges, the chapter outlines principles for a resilient, transferable, and human-centred alarm-management approach that covers the entire system lifecycle, from early design through implementation, operation, and ongoing evaluation. The chapter concludes by highlighting future research and practical directions to better align alarm-system design with real-world operational demands and human operator capabilities.
