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Cybersecurity for Operational Technology Environments (CyOTE™)

CyOTE provides a methodology for energy sector asset owner-operators to combine network-based sensor data with local context to recognize faint signals of malicious cyber activity before an adversary can cause higher-impact effects. This session covers the history of CyOTE to explain how the key insights came about, and then walks through the methodology as a way to put those insights into practice, showing how it complements other high-priority investments and activities in energy sector OT cybersecurity.

We’ll dive a bit more deeply into the science of human performance underlying this as opposed to the threat and cybersecurity details, noting that this work is focused more at the organizational level than the individual, with the goal of helping us all understand how we may be able to replicate the benefits of human performance that the real-time system operator community has embraced, that the protection and controls community has embraced, and get that goodness into the operational technology cybersecurity community!

Human Performance and COVID-19: Where human performance, safety, compliance, and OSHA meet

An electric utility's management of the COVID-19 pandemic requires looking at the situation from many angles. Certainly, ensuring the safety of the workers and the workplace is a major concern, but so are several other factors. Given the strong opinions are about the pandemic, those influences can create a lack of collaboration, and make finding paths forward more difficult. Incorporating Human Performance concerns (for example, recognizing that compliance-based "punishments" are non-sustainable, where positively reinforcing approaches are), it creates a pressure for leadership to handle the situation carefully, balancing a variety of concerns, from worker safety, autonomy, OSHA reportable events, compliance concerns, financial concerns, and many more. As a Human Performance practitioner, Shari has been walking this tightrope and will share her approach and story about how BEC has achieved significant strides towards those balances.

Situational Awareness: What is is, what it isn't

While the loss of situational awareness (SA) is often cited as the reason for an event, we sometimes are left without the understanding of the real reasons why it was lost. The science and application of SA have been in the literature for some time and with the advances in display technology and data analysis we now have real tools to improve and enhance SA.

Mike and James will lead a discussion on the evolution and continuous improvement of the ability to provide better individual and group SA and the role that improvement plays in eliminating human error in the workplace.

Human Performance in Electric Power Conference

NERC and The Electric Reliability Organization Enterprise, the Human Performance Community of Practice (KnowledgeVine and ResilientGrid) and our mutual partners (WECC, TexasRE, SERC, MRO, NPCC, Inc., ReliabilityFirst) are exploring the vital importance that human and organizational performance play in the reliability and security of the North American power grid. We have an exciting afternoon planned to get us started on our journey of continuous improvement together. Our speakers will touch upon a variety of topics to reduce error and risk through human performance application.

Part 1 - Comparing Company Characteristics and Injury Rates

Speakers:

Eric Bauman, EPRI

Dr. Matthew Hallowell, Safety Function, LLC, and University of Colorado-Boulder

Part 2 - Leaders Need Tools Too!

Speaker: Rob Fisher, Fisher IT

Part 3 - Control Rooms During Crisis

Speakers: Ken Dorantes, ISO-NE

Hector Nunez, ISO-NE

Andrey Oks, NPCC

Moderator: Mike Legatt

Part 4 - Making Safe Decisions

Speaker: Katie Smith, Oncor Electric Delivery

Human Performance Error Prevention Toolkits

When engaging in tasks to perform maintenance and construction on substation apparatus, including protection and control systems, a Job Briefing conducted before work begins sets the day off on the right foot! The Job Briefing will include a review and walk-through of Human Performance Tools and Event Free Work Zone Kit to be utilized to avoid an inadvertent operation.

Kevin Harris will lead a discussion on the evolution and continuous improvement of the active defense mechanisms that a Human Performance error prevention toolkit can provide for eliminating human error in the workplace.

Three Mile Island: What Electronic Health Records Designers Can Learn and apply to Human Performance Improvement

Hayley Staten will be reviewing a presentation that she and her colleagues (Dr. Jeffrey Wall and Gavin Johnson) put together named, “Three Mile Island: What Electronic Health Records Designers Can Learn“. This was the most serious event in US commercial nuclear power plant operating history, and several key factors leading to the accident can be traced back to the poor indications and controls operators were given.  Insights into lessons learned and application to Human Performance Improvements.

Doing an RCA on Why RCA Programs Fail

Speaker: Robert Latino

The ultimate in demonstrating that we 'practice what we preach' as Root Cause Analysts!!

Have you ever wished you could do a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) on 'Why Your RCA Effort Doesn't Meet Expectations' (because you are so frustrated at the hurdles you run into when trying to do RCA 'right')?

In this presentation, I get to live the dream and apply effective RCA practices to uncover the root causes as to why an RCA program typically fails. When you watch this, you will easily be able to apply the RCA process used to any other system like Human Performance, IT, Purchasing, or Accounting (who never has issues, right:-). The presentation will essentially be a troubleshooting flow diagram for assessing your current RCA effort.

Human Performance in Electric Power Conference

NERC and The Electric Reliability Organization Enterprise, the Human Performance Community of Practice (KnowledgeVine and ResilientGrid) and our mutual partners (WECC, TexasRE, SERC, MRO, NPCC, Inc., ReliabilityFirst) are exploring the vital importance that human and organizational performance play in the reliability and security of the North American power grid. We have an exciting afternoon planned to get us started on our journey of continuous improvement together. Our speakers will touch upon a variety of topics to reduce error and risk through human performance application.

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Part 1 – Kickoff

Speaker: David Costello, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories 

Join us as David speaks on The Journey of Continuous Improvement and Human Performance at SEL.

Part 2

Speaker: David Sowers, KnowledgeVine

Luck is Not a Strategy, Human Performance is a strategy. 

Part 3

Speaker: Sam Reno, MidAmerican Energy

Listen in on Sam Reno and hear him describe the success of the Human Performance Champions Program at MidAmerican Energy Company.

Part 4

Speaker: Dr. Jake Mazulewicz, JMA, LLC

Why you Can’t “Proceduralize” Everything

Part 5

Speaker: Beth Lay, Lewis Tree 

Learning Differently: New View Safety applied to learning from incidents and close calls.


Choosing Words Wisely

Speaker: Sheila Kennedy

Words influence outcomes and reality. The way you define yourself and those you communicate with are impacted by the words you choose to use. Through practical exercises and discussion, we will explore how:

1. Self talk impacts results. Let’s identify what words are conducive to your success.
2. Word choice will trigger the internal motivators for the receiver. Discover how to communicate in such a way that achieves a reaction/response that benefits both the giver and receiver. Sheila will share resources and strategies for choosing powerful words that accurately and captivatingly contribute to and deliver desired outcomes.

Cognitive Flexibility

Speakers: Dr. James Merlo & Dr. Mike Legatt

Today we’re looking forward to presenting on “Cognitive Flexibility.” Cognitive flexibility is a key function, one we require to learn, adapt, and handle high-stress, high-stakes situations. Cognitive flexibility, at its best, allows us to manage multiple inputs, shift thinking and assumptions, change strategies and better see the “big picture”. When we struggle with cognitive flexibility, we can become fixated on one detail, keep trying a failed strategy, and ultimately can’t succeed in what we’re trying to do. In this presentation, we’ll talk about what cognitive flexibility is, how we measure it, and what we can do to improve it.

Implementing Safety Differently

Guests: Beth Lay and Asher Balkin

We’re honored to have Beth Lay and Asher Balkin from Lewis Tree Service present, “Implementing Safety Differently”, sharing their tools and practices for managing highly variable work.

Surprises are frequent, yet seldom acknowledged nor prepared for in ordinary work situations. We explore the practical application of fundamental Resilience Engineering premises “surprise will happen” and “work is variable” to the tree industry. At Lewis Tree Service, we perform the high-risk jobs of removing trees near power lines including trees on downed power lines after storms. We share our experiences translating New View Safety and Resilience Engineering theories into practical actions.

Towards Conformity in Cyber-Informed Engineering

Speaker: Sam Chanoski

Often, we’ve tried to frame these CoP meetings as alternating between science one presentation, and application the next. Following our science-based “Obedience, Compliance, or Conformity, Part 2”, we’re excited to have Sam Chanoski talk cybersecurity and engineering on a national scale, and efforts to realize conformity in the way we build security into the systems most critical to a safe society, healthy economy, and a secure nation. While Sam will use examples from the energy industry (where he works), the content and challenges should be highly relevant to all industries.

Obedience, Compliance, or Conformity – Part II

Speakers: Drs. Mike Legatt & James Merlo

Back when we were all starting the Human Performance Community of Practice together, James and Mike gave a presentation on organizational culture, “Obedience, Compliance, or Conformity.” We’ve received several requests since then, asking us to go further. So, today, we’re looking forward to “Obedience, Compliance, or Conformity, Part 2”. We’ll dig further on a few topics:

  • How powerful is other people’s influence on what you see? (Solomon Asch)

  • What makes it easier for people to do hurtful things to others, and what can we do to prevent them in our organizations? (Stanley Milgram)

  • How do encouragement and normalized behavior lead people to make bad choices (Philip Zimbardo)

  • How do we identify, and prevent, groupthink (Irving Janis)?

  • How do we identify where group polarization is happening?

  • How does the Devil’s Advocate / Tenth Man help in groups?

  • How do we get groups working together better (e.g., outgroup homogeneity)?