The Lessons from experienced operators project is an industry funded research project managed through Water Research Australia (WaterRA). This project aims to capture the lived experience of water industry operators, to gain an insight into their decision-making processes. These include everyday decisions made by operators, along with complex and time critical decisions, that are often made under pressure or with competing priorities.
This paper presents a modified Decision Ladder (DL) Template which has been applied to describe frontline worker decision-making across several industries, ranging from healthcare through to aviation, shipping and process industries. In the Lessons from experienced operators project, the modified DL Template has been used for better understanding the decision-making processes used by water industry operators when faced with a range of operational situations.
A case study is presented, selected from a comprehensive background literature review report (Milestone 1 of the Lessons from experienced operators project). The background literature review involved a detailed analysis of papers selected from across ten years of WIOA conferences. This was to demonstrate the power of the modified DL Template to better understand the critical decision-making process of experienced water industry operators, to facilitate training for new operators.
Author
- Kathy Northcott, Technical Specialist – Water, Veolia ANZ
- Marty Hancock, Research Manager, WaterRA
- Sallyanne Bartlett, Senior Water Quality Specialist, Coliban Water