Safety culture

For more than 50 years, the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre has been carrying out scientific research on peaceful applications of nuclear energy and ionising radiation. At present, our research is concentrated on:

1. Safety of nuclear facilities
2. Radiation protection
3. Safe treatment and disposal of radioactive waste
4. Fight against uncontrolled proliferation of fissile material
5. Fight against terrorism

These available knowledge and infrastructure are also used for services to industry and for training.

During this long period, SCK•CEN has known only a few accidents, thanks to the efforts of the entire personnel, and the radiation exposure of the personnel and the environment remained at a low level. During the past years, this decreasing tendency in the collective radiation dose has been maintained and the accident statistics have continued to improve: an evolution that SCK•CEN certainly wants to continue.

However, a modern safety policy goes beyond the analysis of the technical quality of the installations, the radiation exposure and the accidents. Attention is also paid to safety culture, for which the following aspects are taken into account: organisational aspects, communication, insight into the function, social relationships, reporting of small problems and response to them, etc. Furthermore, incidents and nearly accidents are also investigated and technical problems are analysed and tackled before an accident could occur. Safety culture requires continuous efforts; it is an attitude that has to be supported and applied by all members of the personnel at all levels.

Within this framework, SCK•CEN has taken some new initiatives during the past months. This happened in close consultation with the committee for prevention and protection at work, in which employers and employees are represented. This initiative was taken in all sincerity to and in collaboration with the supervisory authorities Bel V and the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) that encouraged and supported the initiative. Furthermore, the FANC confirmed that these efforts completely correspond to a further optimisation of the safety culture.

In the first half of May 2007, we conducted a survey among all members of our personnel, based on a method developed at Electricité de France (EdF). After a first analysis, the Internal Service for Prevention and Protection at Work (IDPBW), together with some external experts, has also interviewed a number of members of the personnel. This initiative was strengthened with a technical safety analysis and a number of observations in the major facilities. All these analyses had to lead to a scientifically based image of the current safety situation and possible points of improvement, and to an action plan so as to actually tackle these points.

Contact: Vermeersch Fernand, Head of the Internal Service for Prevention and Protection at Work (IDPBW)