Country-Specific Safety Culture Forum
Sweden
One of the many important lessons learnt about nuclear safety over the years has been
that human aspects of nuclear safety are as important as any technical issue that
may arise in the course of nuclear operations. The international nuclear community
can work together to identify and address issues associated with components and systems
and compare operational experiences, but identifying how human behaviour affects safety
and the best approaches to examine this behaviour from country to country remains
less common.
Practical experience has nevertheless shown that there are important differences in
how people work together and communicate across borders. People’s behaviours, attitudes
and values do not stop at the gate of a nuclear installation, and awareness of the
systemic nature of culture and its deeper aspects, such as the dynamics of how values
and assumptions influence behaviours, continues to evolve.
The NEA safety culture forum was created to gain a better understanding of how the
national context affects safety culture in a given country and how operators and regulators
perceive these effects in their day-to-day activities. The ultimate goal is to ensure
safe nuclear operations. The first NEA safety culture forum – a collaborative effort
between the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the World Association of Nuclear Operators
(WANO) and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) – was held in Sweden in early
2018. This report outlines the process used to conduct the forum, reveals findings
from the discussions and invites the nuclear community to further reflect and take
action.
Published on September 13, 2018