The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Dounreay culture change focuses on safety

20 August 2008

Dounreay used to be at the bottom of the NDA’s league table for site safety but thanks to a new initiative it has improved significantly and is now in the Top10.

The success came as a result of a culture change programme called “Second Nature Observations in the Workplace” (SNOW) which made challenge acceptable and increased staff engagement on safety issues.

Tony Wratten, the site’s Director of Assurance, told the NDA’s Health and Safety Conference: “We pinched a lot of ideas so it didn’t cost a lot of money.”

He said the site which has over 1,000 staff and a similar number of contract staff thought it was doing well until the incident happened in the cementation plant a couple of years ago.

Tony said he was asked to lead the investigation into the incident. “That was one hell of an eye opener. It is extraordinary how your view of what happened changes as you investigate it,” he said.

He said they found incorrect responses by staff; a tolerance of defects; poor communication; ambiguity of responsibility; a poor safety culture; poor control of temporary modifications and training and competency issues.

“Most of what we did was on culture and attitudes. We changed the structure and introduced clear lines of responsibility and accountability,” he said.

As part of the restructuring of UKAEA a leadership selection process was undertaken. The structure was finalised but the people had to apply for roles within the new organisation and this was done using an assessment centre process.

As a result almost all of the leadership team changed and staff from the UKAEA partnership organisations AMERC and CH2MHill were fully integrated into the team. The process was completed for all levels of the new organisation.

Tony Wratten said:
“The incident in the cementation plant provided us with the stimulus for change. We had great support from across the workforce, from the safety representatives and trade union officials. We were able to get the changes through quickly because the Regulators realised we needed to change.

Safety was made a key performance indicator for line managers. On top of this management visibility was regarded as essential and all senior managers now spend eight hours each week out of their offices and on site.

The SNOW initiative was adapted from BP. A Personal Protective Equipment Policy was introduced across the site. Site-wide Safety Improvement Plans were introduced with practical actions and accountability.

“In hindsight we tried to do too much too quickly. Now when a new initiative arises we have an implementation plan for it. We are raising the profile of safety on the site. We have a new site newspaper, a new rewards programme, a new electronic permit to work, error prevention tool training, better fact-finding injury investigation and improved learning from experience,” he said.

Tony added that the Daily Safety and Environmental Action Centre had changed the dynamics of safety on the site and made it all much more personal.