Risk management in power system control centres

This article is the result of investigations which indicated that conditions, particularly safety management, at power system control centres were either contributing factors or causal factors in the large-scale blackouts which occurred in 2003 all over the developed world. An exploratory research methodology was followed in an attempt to determine the baseline level of safety management within the control centres along with the applicability of the safety management concepts. The experience survey developed followed a flexible line of questioning which illuminated the context and produced both quantitative and qualitative data. The results indicated that there was no support for the proposition that the control centre business environment is becoming more complex and the risk management was not adequate; neither was there support for the proposition that the risk management strategies were based on more than one class of accident model. There was however support for the proposition that control centres do not use systemic accident models on which to base their accident prevention techniques