Once you have scheduled and issued a switching sheet, you are ready to instruct and complete the switching sheet steps. Instructing a step indicates that you have provided the step information to the individual performing the switching actions in the field.
Overview
Note the following key information about instructing and completing steps:
• Instructing steps is only permitted in real-time mode.
• In order to begin instructing switching sheet steps, the sheet has to be Issued first. The Instruct and Complete buttons become enabled in real-time mode when the plan reaches the Issued state.
• The order that steps can be instructed depends on the type of sheet the steps are found in and whether the steps are part of a step grouping or not. (See “Step Order Execution Rules”.)
• Steps are not required to be instructed before being completed. It is up to you to decide if the step should be instructed first.
• To complete a switching step, the switching sheet must be in real-time mode. (You can complete steps in Study Mode, but these actions do not affect the real-time data model.)
• Although a Viewer window does not need to be open to complete switching steps, it is helpful to view the step actions in a Viewer window. The Viewer must be in real-time mode as well.
• For steps involving asset operations, you must have authority over the zone where switching operations will take place, or the system will not allow you to complete the switching steps.
• If you attempt to operate an asset to its current state, such as closing an asset that is already closed, a dialog box informs you that the asset is already in its desired state. You can continue or cancel the operation. If you continue, the system marks the step as completed or instructed (depending on your action). If you cancel, no action is taken.
Instructing and Completing Steps
To instruct and complete steps:
1. Verify that the switching sheet and the Viewer are in real-time mode.
2. On the Tracking/Audit Log tab, verify that the status of the sheet is Issued, In Progress, or Hold/Pending.
Instructing the Step
3. Select the step you want to instruct.
4. If a crew was assigned to the switching plan and was not pre-assigned to any steps, then select the crew from the Crews List in the Steps tab header. (See the previous sections for instructions on associating crews to switching sheets and pre-assigning steps.)
Note: Automatic crew list selection is based on the crew specified in the Instructed To field of the selected step. If the step does not display a crew in this field, then no crew will be selected in the Crews List.
5. When you give the instruction to the crew, click the Instruct button on the Steps tab toolbar.
6. If the step involves an asset operation, the Look Ahead window opens. Click Open or Close in the Look Ahead window to continue with the step. (You may be required to view conditions associated with the operation before you can perform the operation.)
The status of the step changes to Instructed. The Instructed To column is populated with the assigned crew''s ID, and the Instructed Date column is populated with the current date/time. An Instructed symbol appears on the asset in the Viewer.
If the step involves issuing a safety document to one or more crews, then the list of crews in the step''s Instructed To field will be used to populate the Assigned Crews list within the safety document when the step is completed.
Notes on SCADA Actions
• If the step involves actions on a SCADA control, a confirmation dialog box displays the following text: "Do you wish to send this request to SCADA?" If you click Yes, the step is instructed to SCADA, the request is sent to SCADA, and the status of the step is set to SCADA Pending. If you click No, the request is not sent to SCADA and the step is set to SCADA Pending (it will wait for telemetry in order to complete the step). This may be the case if a crew were instructed to perform the operation instead of a SCADA system. If you click Cancel Action, the operation is canceled.
• If the SCADA interface reports that the asset was indeed opened, the step status is then updated to Completed. The switch opens in the Viewer and the instruct condition disappears.
• If you select the Complete button before receiving information from SCADA, a confirmation dialog box displays the following text: "SCADA telemetry only for selected asset. Submit a manual entry?" If you click Yes, the status of the step is set to Completed, and the switch opens with status of M (for MANUAL entry) in the Viewer. If the SCADA interface reports that the asset was indeed opened, the MANUAL indicator disappears. If you click No, the action is canceled.
Notes on the Look Ahead and its Errors and Warnings
When instructing a step, the Look Ahead and its associated errors and warnings display data as if the other instructed steps in the sheet were already completed. This allows you to instruct multiple steps, including go-backs of previous steps, without receiving errors about missing tags, incorrect statuses, and so on. This will also give you the correct customer count as if the other instructed steps were already executed.
This considers all instructed steps in the current sheet only and applies them to the model in the order that they were instructed (using the Instructed Date field.)
Completing the Step
7. After the crew reports that the step is complete, select the step and click Complete.
The Status is updated to Completed. The Completed Date column is populated and the asset status is updated in the Viewer window. If customers are impacted, then a new planned outage event is placed upon the asset as well. This event will also appear in the Events list on the Steps tab header.
8. If the step is a safety state transition step, then selecting Complete will cause the safety document dialog box to be displayed. Verify that the information on the safety document is correct and click the Execute button at the bottom of the display to complete the action. (For more information, see Executing Safety State Transition Steps.
Note: All safety documents must be completed before you can complete the switching sheet. Also, in order to complete an Issue Safety State transition step, a crew must be specified in the Assigned Crews list. You can specify a crew by doing one of the following:
• Select one or more crews within the Crew List on the Steps tab. Use these selections to populate the Instructed To field of the safety state transition step. Upon completing the step, the crews listed in the Instruct To field will also be listed in the safety document''s Assigned Crews list.
• Click the Select Crews... button () found above the Assigned Crews list on the safety document and use the Select Safety Crew dialog box to populate the Assigned Crews list.
9. Repeat steps 3-8 for each switching step you want to instruct and complete.
Recording Additional Steps in Real Time
10. Additional steps may be added to the switching sheet in real time when it is in the ‘Issued'' state. Click the record button and proceed to record the actions as issued.
Completing the Switching Sheet
11. When all steps have been completed, click the Tracking/Audit Log tab and set the sheet state to Completed by clicking Complete. The Confirm State Transition dialog box will open; click Yes to confirm the completion or click No to close the dialog box without completing the sheet. The Finish Date may be updated, if necessary.
• Optional: add a comment in the text field to the right of the Complete button.
If any associated event has not been restored or if any safety document has not been completed, an error message is displayed indicating that the sheet cannot be completed.
Once the sheet is in the Completed state, any planned outage events are completed along with the planned master event. Any crews assigned or en route to the events are released as well.
Note: Once all the steps in a switching sheet are complete, the plan itself is considered complete. Setting the sheet state to Completed "locks" the switching sheet so that no further modifications may take place while it is in this state.