International Conference on Human and Organizational Aspects of Assuring Nuclear Safety – Exploring 30 Years of Safety Culture

Contemporary Approaches to Safety Culture: Lessons from Developing a Regulatory Oversight Approach

24 Feb 2016, 13:00

15m

Room M3 (IAEA HQ)

Oral TO2: Topical Session: Safety Culture Oversight

Speaker

Kathleen Heppell-Masys (Canada)

Synopsis

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment, and to implement Canada's international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and to disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public.

In the late 1990s, the CNSC conducted research into an Organization & Management (O&M) assessment method. Based on this research the CNSC conducted O&M assessments at all Canadian nuclear power plants and conducted additional assessments of nuclear research and uranium mine & mill operations. The results of these assessments were presented to licensees and used to inform their ongoing actions related to safety culture. Additional safety culture outreach and oversight activities provided licensees with opportunities to develop effective safety culture assessment methods, to share best practices across industry, and to strive for continual improvement of their organizations.

Recent changes to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) management system standard have resulted in the inclusion of requirements associated to safety culture and human performance. Representatives from several sectors of Canada’s nuclear industry, as well as participation from regulators such as the CNSC took part to the development of this consensus standard. Specifically, these requirements focus on monitoring and understanding safety culture, integrating safety into all of the requirements of the management system, committing workers to adhere to the management system and supporting excellence in workers’ performance.

The CNSC is currently developing a regulatory document on safety culture which includes key concepts applicable to all licensees and specific requirements related to self-assessment, and additional guidance for nuclear power plants. Developing a regulatory document on safety culture requires consultation and fact finding initiatives at the national and international levels and includes active dialogue between all stakeholders on developing effective methods to achieving desired results across wide range of licensed activities and organizations.