ISO 11064

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) specifies the standard principles for the ergonomic design of control centers—including layout and dimensions of workstations. It’s a tome of control room best practices, the purpose of which is to enhance human performance and promote safety best practice.

You need trusted experts who know that section of ISO’s control room standards like the back of their hand. You need BAW Architecture.

BAW Architecture at the Forefront

BAW was at the forefront of implementing ISO 11064 best practices in production control room layout, lighting, acoustics and material finishes even before they were codified by ISO in the late 1990s. Our ISO-compliant control room portfolio includes over 100 new-build or renovation projects around the globe, for firms such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Fluor, and Honeywell. Read about the 11 reasons why BAW is the global leader in control room design.

Our approach to control rooms has emphasized human-centered design since the early 1990s, even before the advent of ISO 11064. Our collaboration ensures that your control room is ISO compliant in every regard, to the highest possible degree, no matter where in the world you are located.

ISO 11064 is divided into 7 parts:

• Part 1 – Principles for the design of control centers
  As a human centered approach, the design begins with the operator. End users participate in the iterative design process working with an interdisciplinary design team, and provide task and link analysis, and risk assessment information which is documented as the design basis. The goal is an error tolerant yet safe design.

• Part 2 – Principles for the arrangement of control suites
  Based on information obtained from a task and link analysis, square footages are estimated, adjacencies are determined and the space is laid out to facilitate all activities housed in the control room.

• Part 3 – Control room layout
  Ergonomic principles and the task and link analysis drive the layout of workstation arrangements, off-workstation visual displays and control room maintenance.

• Part 4 – Layout and dimensions of workstations
  The needs of the operator and other users are the focus of the workstation design, utilizing ergonomic principles to determine the overall dimensions of the visual-display based workstations.

• Part 5 – Displays and controls
  Maximizing the safe, reliable, efficient, and comfortable use of graphic screen displays and controls is the goal of the human machine interface.

• Part 6 – Environmental requirements for control centers
  The overall environment in a control room needs to be optimized to positively affect operator performance. Lighting, acoustics, temperature, humidity, and vibration all are key factors that play into operator awareness.

• Part 7 – Principles for the evaluation of control centers
  The post occupancy evaluation after a control center is up and running is the final step to determine if the design is successful.  The operators provide valuable feedback having been involved in the project from the beginning. Lessons learned are evaluated, documented and recommendations for improvements (if any) are communicated.

Safety Is a Great Investment

Control room design trends come and go, but ISO 11064 spells out what we at BAW take as an article of faith: great control room design employs best practices in ergonomics, fatigue management and other human factors to optimize performance, efficiency and safety. Unsafe, unproductive work environments are in the end very costly. If, for example, a chemical production facility fails to integrate best practices to avoid leakage, a catastrophic event can ensue. The human and financial toll can be devastating, and a company’s reputation can be destroyed.

Choosing BAW will give you peace of mind, because compliance comes as standard, and return-on-investment does too.

Many of the larger operators understand the importance and benefit of human factors standards, such as ISO 11064 and have taken this a step further in developing their own in-company standard. BAW has a working knowledge of several such standards and can provide compliance against these as an alternative to ISO 11064. Contact BAW to find out more.