Acmena helps Goulburn-Murray Water reduce risk and optimise human-system performance in its spillway operations and maintenance programs.

Located on the Murray River on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the Yarrawonga Weir serves to regulate flow levels and supply irrigation systems in both states. It is the largest of the 14 weirs on the Murray River and plays a vital role in flood mitigation for the surrounding areas, protecting communities, reducing economic losses and safeguarding critical infrastructure.

In 2024, Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) engaged Acmena to provide a human factors risk assessment on the facility’s spillway operations and maintenance programs. Focused on providing a deeper understanding of the effect of escalating flood conditions on human performance, Acmena’s human factors assessment would be incorporated into broader regulator-mandated risk assessments, which were conducted in line with the Australia National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) Guidelines on Risk Assessment.

Understanding the human factors

Given increasing climate unpredictability and the risk flooding poses to local communities and infrastructure, it is critical to ensure that operators can perform effectively during, and in the aftermath of, periods of intense rainfall. In these emergency situations, operators need to perform their normal duties while monitoring adverse hydrological conditions, identifying hazards, responding to increasing risk and executing disaster management plans.

Acmena’s multidisciplinary team of safety and human factors engineers collaborated closely with the client’s safety managers and operations staff throughout the course of several on-site surveys. A series of human factors assessments were undertaken to identify system improvements that impact on human performance in key areas, including work systems and environment, human reliability, training, competency and workload.

Risk-based recommendations were underpinned with a series of hazard workshops to understand safety assurance needs, identify potential hazards and risk control factors. Through this we determined the impact of escalating flood conditions on operators, taking into account how their normal operational procedures and workload would adapt during flood emergency and through the initial post flood recovery phase.

Delivering practical recommendations

Meeting GMW’s nine-week time frame, Acmena successfully delivered a series of evidence-based, actionable recommendations that will improve operations and maintenance processes at the Yarrawonga Weir. By focusing on GMW’s requirements, understanding its management system and maintaining clear communications, Acmena delivered its findings in a way that the client could easily incorporate into its existing As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) risk management strategy, enhancing their overall preparedness and response to flood emergency.

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