Are you looking for a best-fit operator workspace or are you in the start-up phase of a comprehensive renovation, remodelling or new build of an incident response or control room? Whatever your wishes might be, we are pleased to brainstorm with you.
You want to really realise a new incident response or control room with a 10 to 15-year lifespan. So this is a good opportunity for thinking about the changes in the future that could influence the design of the control room. Our consultants help you to define a vision for the future so that the new control room is future-proof.
Together with your project team, we hold a number of sessions, and all the significant aspects are scrutinised. The starting point is a completely fitted out 24-hour workplace or workspace that is perfectly in line with your operational processes and complies with the current legislation and directives.
Fitting a control room correctly requires knowledge, not just about the layout itself but also about legal standards and ergonomics. Our Senior Human Factors consultants are specialised in regulations and Health and Safety legislation. They transform your wishes and requirements into a made-to-measure solution that we can then complete as a turnkey project.
Drafting workspace requirements
Setting out a vision for the future
Defining user requirements
Cost indication
The size and shape of the control desk is determined by what the operator actually needs for the optimum performance of their tasks. During the desk analysis, we examine with the end users what their (future) tasks will be and what equipment is necessary to provide them with maximum support. This could include the necessary monitors, (personal) video walls, communication equipment, peripherals, power and emergency facilities and more. In addition, we look at what else is possible in the available space. This crucial information is required to be able to determine the appropriate size and model of desk.
Brand Control Rooms has its own online pre-design management game that you can play anywhere. Using the animations, the objective is to acquire information about the participant’s operational vision of the future.
Here we look at:
• Ambitions for the coming 10 to 15 years
• Future changes
• Expansion or reduction
• Computerisation
• Central or local position
• Future staff complement
These details are displayed to all the participants in a dashboard. It is a vehicle for holding discussions about relevant strategic subjects. Eventually leading to a single vision for the future. This information serves as a starting point for the TUNASS® analysis.
What does an operator need in their workspace and environment to deliver maximum performance? TUNASS® stands for Technology User Needs Assessment: an approach to quickly acquire a clearly structured overview of which operational requirements are crucial to the design of both the desk and the space layout.
The benefits of TUNASS®
The TUNASS® analysis is run through based on group sessions to uncover all the user requirements and wishes. This is how we determine with you the operator workspace requirements, the peripheral furniture, the lighting, the sound, the climate and more. Our consultants also look at the necessary communication and sightlines, as well as access and escape routes. Resulting in two realistic layout options.
The TUNASS has produced two layout options, both of which are realistic and comply with the ergonomic requirements. During the Design Assessment, we evaluate both options with you and for each set requirement we consider which option best meets your specific situation. So the Design Assessment delivers a substantiated choice between the two options. The chosen option, which is fleshed out as a Definitive Functional Design (DFD), forms the basis for the subsequent engineering and realisation.
At this point, a realistic cost indication can be drawn up. This cost indication includes the technical description and possible options, accompanied by competitive prices. A clearly laid out breakdown that is as comprehensive as possible, so that you can determine the level of facilities.
An ergonomic workspace is a must for safe work and staying healthy. Certainly in incident response and control rooms it is imperative that operators work in a space that provides them with optimum support in the execution of their duties. From a technical, but certainly from an ergonomic perspective too. This is why we have our own in-house ergonomists and consultants, specialised in every aspect of Human Factors Engineering.
