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Human, Organizational Factors and Mental Workload for Tunnel Operators in Emergency Situations

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Human Mental Workload: Models and Applications (H-WORKLOAD 2020)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1318))

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Abstract

Accident rates appear to be slightly lower in tunnels than on open road, however an accident in a tunnel may have much greater impact; especially in the event of fire, where the enclosed space hinders the dissipation of smoke and poses difficulty in ensuring safe escape route of the tunnel users. In order to assess the risk of such events that may cause heavy losses as well as serious damage to the tunnel infrastructure and facilities, it is crucial to focus on the key elements that constitute the road tunnel system. Taking into account that the road tunnel operator’s performance is of utmost importance for the overall safety of these critical infrastructures, this paper examines the cognitive overload that may occur during emergency situations. The analysis reveals that the main factors that have a substantial effect on the mental effort of the tunnel operator are the level of information processing, the available time to complete the necessary tasks and the number of switches the operator has to make between different task-sets. In order to improve the operator’s performance and reduce the mental workload in this safety critical domain of the transportation system, various performance shaping mechanisms are analyzed in a holistic and systemic perspective.

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Abbreviations

CCTV::

Close Circuit Television

CPCs::

Common Performance Conditions

CREAM::

Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method

DG::

Dangerous Goods

LIP::

Level of Information Processing

NCSR::

National Center for Scientific Research

NTUA::

National Technical University of Athens

OECD::

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

QRA::

Quantitative Risk Assessment

PIARC::

World Roads Association

PSFs::

Performance Shaping Factors

SCADA::

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

TBRS::

Time-Based Resource Sharing

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Acknowledgment

This research has been co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE (project code: T1EDK-02374).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NCSR Demokritos, Systems Reliability and Industrial Safety Laboratory, Terma Patriarchou Grigoriou, 15310, Athens, Greece

    Myrto Konstantinidou & Kostis Kazaras

  2. NTUA School of Mechanical Engineering, 15770, Athens, Greece

    Konstantinos Kirytopoulos

Authors
  1. Myrto Konstantinidou
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  2. Kostis Kazaras
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  3. Konstantinos Kirytopoulos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Myrto Konstantinidou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Luca Longo

  2. Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Maria Chiara Leva

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Konstantinidou, M., Kazaras, K., Kirytopoulos, K. (2020). Human, Organizational Factors and Mental Workload for Tunnel Operators in Emergency Situations. In: Longo, L., Leva, M.C. (eds) Human Mental Workload: Models and Applications. H-WORKLOAD 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1318. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62302-9_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62302-9_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-62301-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62302-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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