Definition

Abnormal Situation

• A disturbance or series of disturbances in a process that cause plant operations to deviate from their normal operating state.
  
  
• The nature of the abnormal situation may be of minimal or catastrophic consequence. It is the job of the operations team to identify the cause of the situation and execute compensatory or corrective actions in a timely and efficient manner.
  
  
• A disturbance may cause a reduction in production; in more serious cases it may endanger human life.
  
  
• Abnormal situations extend, develop, and change over time in the dynamic process control environments increasing the complexity of the intervention requirements.