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Guidance for Establishing and Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work Environment

The NRC has developed guidance to encourage a Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE). 

On this page:

• Background
• Final SCWE Guidance
• Comments on SCWE Guidance Documents
• Public Stakeholder Meetings & Workshops

Background

The 1996 NRC Policy Statement , "Freedom of Employees in the Nuclear Industry to Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of Retaliation," provides the agency's broad expectations with respect to licensees establishing and maintaining a Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE); that is, an environment in which employees are encouraged to raise safety concerns both to their own management and to the NRC without fear of retaliation. In a March 26, 2003 Staff Requirements Memorandum, the Commission directed the staff to develop further guidance, in consultation with stakeholders, that identifies best practices to encourage a SCWE.

Final SCWE Guidance

To stimulate stakeholder's thinking and encourage a dialogue on this subject, the NRC prepared for comment an outline of a guidance document. In preparing that document, the staff reviewed the existing guidance provided in the 1996 Policy Statement, including the elements and attributes described therein of a healthy SCWE, and expanded that guidance or added new guidance where additional information would help describe practices to meet the intent of each SCWE attribute. From this outline and considering comments provided on the outline, the NRC developed, a draft Guidance Document for Establishing and Maintaing a Safety Conscious Work Environment. As noted below, the staff sought further comments on the draft document in an October 14, 2004 Federeal Register Notice. After considering the comments, the staff published the final guidance document on August 25, 2005.

The NRC's 1996 Policy Statement was directed to all employers, including licensees and their contractors, subject to NRC authority, and their employees. Hence, the SCWE guidance also applies to this broad audience. It is important to note that the guidance outlined in this document may not be practical or necessary for all employers. Rather, the purpose of this guidance is to outline what has worked well at some larger licensees to maintain or improve a work environment and ensure its employees feel free to raise safety concerns. As such, the guidance document is not a requirement; employers should review the guidance for practices that may best foster a SCWE given the particular management structure and organizational style at their facility.

Comments on SCWE Guidance Documents

The NRC formally sought public comments on the development of a document regarding Best Practices To Establish and Maintain a Safety Conscious Work Environment which was published in the Federal Register notice dated February 12, 2004. The NRC staff evaluated the Comments Received in response to the Federal Register Notice and the Public Workshop discussed under Public Stakeholder Meetings & Workshops below and developed a draft Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) titled, "Guidance for Establishing and Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work Environment." Comments on the draft RIS were solicited via a Federal Register notice dated October 14, 2004. In developing the final guidance, the staff also considered the comments received in response to the October 14, 2004 Federal Register Notice. The staff's evaluation of the comments is publically available through the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML051100166.

Public Stakeholder Meetings & Workshops

The NRC conducted a public workshop on February 19, 2004, at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 G16, Rockville, Maryland from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to discuss and solicit input from external stakeholders regarding establishing and maintaining a safety conscious work environment. Please see the meeting notice and agenda for additional information about the workshop.

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Thursday, December 06, 2007