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Situation awareness
About this topic
Introduction
Situation awareness can be thought of as a person’s real time mental model of the world around them, and is central to effective decision making and control in dynamic systems. The definition of situation awareness is ‘the perception of elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future’ (Endsley, 1996). The three elements in this definition are often described as levels of situation awareness, with each level building on and representing a more advanced state of situation awareness. The three levels are: the perception of critical factors in the environment (level 1), understanding what these factors mean, particularly in relation to the achievement of goals (level 2), and being able to predict what will happen to the system in the near future (level 3).
Relevance to rail
Railway operational and maintenance staff need to have good situation awareness in order to safely complete their tasks. Situation awareness of drivers might include knowing where they are, what the current movement authority is, the track gradient and required traction power to manage it, and the future braking profile for the train. Track workers need to be aware of the safe system of work they are operating under, the current hazards to be managed, and where their position of safety is. These are just examples – the actual requirements for good situation awareness are dynamic and continually change according to the situation. Situation awareness can be facilitated by good design which makes the required information easily available and it’s meaning obvious.
Approaches and models
The three elements in this definition are often described as levels of situation awareness, with each level building on and representing a more advanced state of situation awareness. The three levels are: the perception of critical factors in the environment (level 1), understanding what these factors mean, particularly in relation to the achievement of goals (level 2), and being able to predict what will happen to the system in the near future (level 3).
Situation awareness can be assessed in different ways:
– Freeze probe techniques – these can only be used in simulated environments. They involve ‘freezing’ the simulation at a particular point, removing information (e.g. by blanking screens) and asking questions about the current circumstances. The most commonly known freeze probe technique is the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT; Endsley, 2000).
– Real-time probe techniques – these are similar to freeze probe, but there is no requirement to freeze the scenario so they can be used in real environments. The level of situation awareness is measured by the length of time taken for the operator to respond.
– Self-rating scales – these ask operators to rate their level of situation awareness on a pre-determined scale. Situation Awareness Rating Technique (SART) and China Lake are two commonly used scales.
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