Chancellor 414A / C414
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Workload; Situational Awareness; Distraction
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance
Human Factors; Staffing
[I was] working a combined Sector; no D-Side and no A-Side. I did not ask for a D-Side. My printer had run out of paper and there was no one to assist; trying to change paper while working sector was obviously a bad idea. My Supervisor was unable to change [the paper] and I did not ask for a D-Side. A Trislander was level at 140 and a Chancellor was stopped at 130 for traffic. I needed to get the Trislander down to 090 so I turned the Chancellor to a heading of 135 degrees. Based on their history and their proximity to each other; I thought it would be safe to discontinue vertical separation. I climbed the Chancellor to 150 and descended the Trislander to 090. When I realized it was not going to work; I issued turns that did not work because they were not given in a timely manner. I issued a 25 degree right turn to the Trislander and a 15 degree right turn to the Chancellor but it obviously did not work. I should have asked for a D-Side. The Supervisor should have been paying attention and realized that I needed a D-Side and so did the sector next to me. This happens all the time; Sector is going down the drain but no one is paying attention. It is about percentages of people plugged in and those on break. I should have asked for a D-side. I should not have tried to change my paper on the sector while I was busy. Supervisors need to pay attention more.
Enroute Controller described a loss of separation event; listing workload and lack of supervisory attention as causal factors; also admitting to not requesting D-Side assistance and electing to change printer paper adding to the distractions.