The Impact of Mind-Wandering on Driller's Situation Awareness in Drilling Operations: based on SAGAT and EEG

In the high-risk environment of drilling operations, mind-wandering is a primary cause of unsafe behavior and decreased safety performance. However, few studies have focused on the cognitive characteristics of mind-wandering and its impact on situation awareness (SA). This study sought to bridge the research divide by utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) to explore the link between mind-wandering and brain activity, with the objective of establishing an objective means to monitor workers' mind-wandering. The Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) was employed in a simulated drilling monitoring task, comparing drillers' states at preshift and post-shift. A total of 50 natural gas drillers participated in the experiment to determine the impact of mind-wandering on situation awareness. During this process, brainwave data were recorded and divided into two groups based on task time: pre-shift and post-shift. Upon analyzing both the behavior and EEG data of participants, it was found that there was a notable increase in mind-wandering after the shift, accompanied by a significant decrease in levels of situation awareness. This was particularly evident in complex task scenarios (e.g., gas kick simulation videos), where response times significantly lengthened and the power of delta and alpha bands in the left and right frontal lobes significantly increased. These findings indicate that mind-wandering negatively impacts situation awareness, with the effect being more pronounced in complex task scenarios. These indicators can be considered objective assessments of drillers' situation awareness levels and mind-wandering degrees. The developed indicators in specific brain regions can also serve as references for attention training and fatigue management. By providing safety managers with insights into drillers' attention states in high-risk workplaces, mind-wandering detection helps control and reduce work errors and improper operations.