# Fewer alarms, better alarms

How ISA-18.2 priorities and shelving keep an operator's alarm list readable during a fault, and how GENESYS SCADA applies them.

Source: https://jumphash.com/genesys/news/fewer-alarms-better-alarms/
Content owner: JUMPHASH
Updated: 2026-09-28

## The alarm flood

When a feeder trips, a substation can raise dozens of alarms in a minute: the protection operation, the breaker position, the loss of voltage on every downstream bay, communication alarms from devices that lost power. Each one is true. Together they hide the one the operator needs to act on first.

The ISA-18.2 standard for alarm management starts from a simple rule: an alarm is an indication that requires an operator response. If no response is needed, it should be an event in the journal, not an alarm.

## Four priorities, each with a shape

GENESYS SCADA uses four alarm priorities. Each has a colour and a shape, so priority is never carried by colour alone: P1 urgent is a red square, P2 high an orange triangle, P3 medium a yellow circle and P4 low a magenta diamond. Unacknowledged alarms blink once a second until an operator acknowledges them.

Following ISA-101, the process display stays grey while everything is normal. Colour appears only when something is abnormal, so it draws the eye to the right place.

## Shelving and suppression, on the record

A known nuisance alarm can be shelved by an operator for a set time, with a reason. Alarms that are expected during a planned outage can be suppressed by design. Both are visible: shelved and suppressed alarms have their own list, and every shelve, unshelve and acknowledgement is written to the journal with the operator and the time.

- An alarm requires a response, otherwise it is an event
- Four priorities, each with a colour and a shape
- Grey process views, colour only for abnormal states
- Shelving with a reason and a time limit, in the journal

## Evidence beside the alarm

When an alarm comes from a robot finding or from AMS & LES, it carries its evidence: the reading, the image and the asset's health. The operator decides with the same information the maintenance crew will have.

## Related

- [GENESYS news](https://jumphash.com/genesys/news/)