Under the Regional Europe TC Project RER/9/112, "Enhancing Management, Organization and Effectiveness of the Regulatory Authorities", the IAEA, in collaboration with the Government of Slovenia, organized a workshop on Safety Culture Self-Assessment for Senior Regulators in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 5-7 November 2013. The workshop was hosted by the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA).
Following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, many international organizations are striving to identify means to improve and strengthen human and organizational aspects of nuclear safety in operating and regulatory organizations, and share best practices in strengthening and promoting safety culture. In the framework of Action 11 of the IAEA Nuclear Safety Action Plan, the IAEA has also taken a number of initiatives to address this issue. In this context, IAEA is promoting safety culture within organizations responsible for regulating nuclear safety and performing self-assessment thereafter.
The objective of the workshop was to provide an introduction to safety culture and basic knowledge and guidance on the methods of conducting a Safety Culture Self-Assessment (SCSA) based on IAEA methodology and current international research and practices in nuclear industry. The workshop was attended by 24 participants from 16 countries in the Europe region. Experts from Canada, Finland and the IAEA shared their experience and knowledge and provided information on the IAEA Framework on Safety Culture and Self-Assessment methodology.
During the workshop, through interactive discussions and case studies, the participants became familiar with the concept of safety culture, the SCSA process and assessment methods and techniques based on IAEA methodology. In addition, the workshop highlighted the responsibilities and qualifications of nuclear regulators and the concept of descriptive and normative approaches to capturing and working with cultural information and associated communication protocols.
