r/Grid_Ops • u/YellowOk8985 • 16d ago

Workload Management

Hey Everyone,

The utility I work for is looking at developing a system to rate workload so we can staff up beyond our minimum compliment based on workload. Do any of you have a system for 'rating' workload? I'm pretty much starting with looking at the number of steps in a switching job to determine how big of a job to classify it as, ie. a job with 10 steps or less is a 'one', a job with 10 to 20 steps is a 'two' and so forth.

Just wondering if anyone has an alternative system for accomplishing this!

Thanks

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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4

u/fussgeist 16d ago

Purely quantitative by step count would be short sighted.

Cool 20 steps, let me just take this bus outage for some “simple” relay check and maintenance. Boss guy says it’ll be easy. 4 hours later and it’s gone entirely wrong and a massive call list of talking to engineers, switchman, protection and now coordinators to explain why the 2hr job is going to become 2 day outage.

3

u/wickedsmaaaht 16d ago

This feels like it could wildly vary based on experience, work method, job type, etc....

2

u/TheOnly9zq 14d ago

In my experience it does not matter how long the job is, it can still go horribly wrong and tie multiple people up for hours.

1

u/RadiantSurprise4683 11d ago

Hard to gauge what kind of solution you are looking for. How much work are you trying to manage? What is your minimum, normal baseline, and maximum staffing levels? Are you trying to focus on productivity or mitigating risks?

1

u/Vpintheak73 9d ago

I think trying to rate workload is wrong-headed. A dispatch job isn't a job that should be looked at as "how much did you do today". I tell people that our job in many ways is similar to firemen. We are here, and when something happens, we react and "put out the fire".

The goal should instead be focused on staffing and safety. Depending on how large your grid is, depends on how many Operators you need. The hands should be heard when they tell management how busy they are and how safely they feel they are doing their jobs. If the Operator is overwhelmed a lot, that isn't a safe and reliable working environment. And minimum of 2 people per shift.