Overloads
It's not so much the overloads but the "loading" in general. We are used to handling extremely complex and busy traffic scenarios which are in the main constrained into a manageable delivery by flow control methods. In a natural environment the intensity of the demand would rise and fall, thereby allowing a purely human reaction of getting ones breath back; but this is not a natural environment. At Swanwick the Local Area Supervisor can spot a reduction in traffic intensity and due to staffing constraints will order two sectors to be joined together in order to facilitate legally required breaks. The quieter period of traffic no longer exists as the combined sectors are now up to maximum traffic level again. For computers....no problem....but we are human and we can break. You overlook the human element at your peril!