Speaker
Synopsis
Regulator safety culture is a relatively new area of investigation, even though deficiencies in regulatory oversight have been identified in a number of public inquiries (e.g. Piper Alpha, Deep Water Horizon). More recently the IAEA report into the Fukushima disaster specifically identified the need for regulatory bodies to have a positive safety culture. While there are clear parallels between duty holder safety culture and regulator safety culture there are also likely to be differences. To date they have been no published studies investigating regulator safety culture. In order to develop a framework to understand regulator safety culture we conducted a literature review and interviewed safety culture subject matter experts from a range of HRO domains (e.g. offshore oil and gas).
There was general consensus among participants that regulatory safety culture was an important topic that was worthy of further investigation. That there was general agreement that regulatory safety culture was multi-dimensional and that some of the elements of existing safety culture models applied to regulator culture (e.g. learning and leadership). The participants also identified unique dimensions of regulator safety culture including commitment to high standards and ethics, transparency and perceived role of the regulator. In this paper we will present the results of the interviews and present a model of regulator safety culture. This model will be contrasted with models being used in the nuclear industry. Implications for assessing regulatory safety culture will be discussed.
| Country or International Agency | Canada |
|---|---|
| Type "YES" to confirm submission of required Forms A and B via the official channels | Yes |
