Pocket Guide

to INPO 12-012:
Traits of a
Healthy Nuclear
Safety Culture
This Pocket Guide is based on INPO 12-012, Traits
of a Healthy Nuclear Safety Culture, Revision 1
(April 2013). More details are available in the INPO
12-012 document.

OPEN DISTRIBUTION: Copyright © 2012, 2013 by the Institute

of Nuclear Power Operations. Not for sale or commercial use.
All other rights reserved.

NOTICE: This information was prepared in connection with

work sponsored by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations
(INPO). Neither INPO, INPO members, INPO participants, nor
any person acting on behalf of them (a) makes any warranty
or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the
accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information
contained in this document, or that the use of any information,
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may not infringe on privately owned rights, or (b) assumes any
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from the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process
disclosed in this document.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
TRAITS OF A HEALTHY
NUCLEAR SAFETY CULTURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
THE TRAITS AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES. . . . . . . 5
Personal Accountability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Questioning Attitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Effective Safety Communication. . . . . . . . . . . 13
Leadership Safety Values and Actions. . . . . . . 17
Decision-Making. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Respectful Work Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Continuous Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Problem Identification and Resolution. . . . . . . 39
Environment for Raising Concerns. . . . . . . . . . 43
Work Processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
TABLE - INPO PRINCIPLES TO TRAITS. . . . . . 51

1
INTRODUCTION
Traits of a Healthy Nuclear Safety Culture builds
on the knowledge and experience gained since
the publication of Principles of a Strong Nuclear
Safety Culture in 2004. The change in the title
reflects the commercial nuclear industry alignment
of its own terminology with that used by the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This document
was developed through a collaborative effort by U.S.
industry personnel and the staff of the Institute of
Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), with input from
representatives of various regulatory agencies, the
public, and the nuclear industry worldwide.
Nuclear safety culture is defined as the core
values and behaviors resulting from a collective
commitment by leaders and individuals to
emphasize safety over competing goals to ensure
protection of people and the environment.

For the commercial nuclear power

industry, nuclear safety remains
the overriding priority.

2
TRAITS OF A HEALTHY NUCLEAR
SAFETY CULTURE
Personal Accountability: All individuals take
personal responsibility for safety.
Questioning Attitude: Individuals avoid
complacency and continuously challenge
existing conditions and activities in order to
identify discrepancies that might result in error or
inappropriate action.
Effective Safety Communication: Communications
maintain a focus on safety.
Leadership Safety Values and Actions: Leaders
demonstrate a commitment to safety in their decisions
and behaviors.
Decision-Making: Decisions that support or affect
nuclear safety are systematic, rigorous, and thorough.
Respectful Work Environment: Trust and respect
permeate the organization.
Continuous Learning: Opportunities to learn
about ways to ensure safety are sought out and
implemented.

3
Problem Identification and Resolution: Issues
potentially impacting safety are promptly identified,
fully evaluated, and promptly addressed and
corrected commensurate with their significance.
Environment for Raising Concerns: A safety-
conscious work environment (SCWE) is maintained
where personnel feel free to raise safety concerns
without fear of retaliation, intimidation, harassment,
or discrimination.
Work Processes: The process of planning and
controlling work activities is implemented so that
safety is maintained.

4
THE TRAITS AND THEIR
ATTRIBUTES
Personal Accountability
All individuals take personal responsibility for
safety. Responsibility and authority for nuclear
safety are well defined and clearly understood.
Reporting relationships, positional authority, and
team responsibilities emphasize the overriding
importance of nuclear safety.
Attributes:
PA.1 Standards: Individuals understand the
importance of adherence to nuclear standards.
All levels of the organization exercise
accountability for shortfalls in meeting
standards.
Behavior Examples:
a. Individuals encourage each other to adhere
to high standards.
b. Individuals demonstrate a proper focus
on nuclear safety and reinforce this focus
through peer coaching and discussions.
c. Individuals hold themselves personally
accountable for modeling nuclear safety
behaviors.

5
 d. Individuals across the organization apply
nuclear safety standards consistently.
e. Individuals actively solicit and are open to
feedback.
f. Individuals help supplemental personnel
understand and practice expected
behaviors and actions.
PA.2 Job Ownership: Individuals understand and
demonstrate personal responsibility for the
behaviors and work practices that support
nuclear safety.
Behavior Examples:
a. Individuals understand their personal
responsibility to foster a professional
environment, encourage teamwork, and
identify challenges to nuclear safety.
b. Individuals understand their personal
responsibility to raise nuclear safety
issues, including those identified by others.
c. Individuals take ownership for the
preparation and execution of assigned
work activities.

6
 d. Individuals actively participate in
prejob briefings, understanding their
responsibility to raise nuclear safety
concerns before work begins.
e. Individuals ensure that they are trained and
qualified to perform assigned work.
f. Individuals understand the objective of
the work activity, their role in the activity,
and their personal responsibility for safely
accomplishing the overall objective.
PA.3 Teamwork: Individuals and work groups
communicate and coordinate their activities
within and across organizational boundaries
to ensure nuclear safety is maintained.
Behavior Examples:
a. Individuals demonstrate a strong sense
of collaboration and cooperation in
connection with projects and operational
activities.
b. Individuals work as a team to provide
peer-checks, verify certifications and
training, ensure detailed safety practices,
actively peer coach new personnel, and
share tools and publications.
c. Individuals strive to meet commitments.

7
Questioning Attitude
Individuals avoid complacency and continuously
challenge existing conditions and activities in
order to identify discrepancies that might result
in error or inappropriate action. All employees
are watchful for assumptions, anomalies, values,
conditions, or activities that can have an undesirable
effect on plant safety.
Attributes:
QA.1 Nuclear is Recognized as Special and
Unique: Individuals understand that complex
technologies can fail in unpredictable ways.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization ensures that activities
that could affect reactivity are conducted
with particular care, caution, and
oversight.
b. Individuals recognize the special
characteristics and unique hazards of
nuclear technology, including radioactive
byproducts, concentration of energy in the
core, and decay heat.

8
 c. Individuals recognize the particular
importance of features designed to
maintain critical safety functions, such as
core and spent fuel cooling.
d. Executives and senior managers ask
probing questions to understand the
implications and consequences of
anomalies in plant conditions.
e. Executives and senior managers challenge
managers to ensure degraded conditions
are fully understood and appropriately
resolved, especially those involving
equipment important to nuclear safety.
QA.2 Challenge the Unknown: Individuals stop
when faced with uncertain conditions. Risks
are evaluated and managed before proceeding.
Behavior Examples:
a. Leaders reinforce expectations that
individuals take the time to do the job right
the first time, seek guidance when unsure,
and stop if an unexpected condition or
equipment response is encountered.

9
 b. Individuals maintain a questioning
attitude during prejob briefings and
job-site reviews1 to identify and resolve
unexpected conditions.
c. Individuals challenge unanticipated test
results rather than rationalizing them.
For example, abnormal indications are
not automatically attributed to indication
problems but are thoroughly investigated
before activities are allowed to continue.
d. Individuals communicate unexpected plant
responses and conditions to the control
room.
e. Individuals stop work activities when
confronted with an unexpected condition,
communicate with supervisors, and resolve
the condition prior to continuing work
activities. When appropriate, individuals
consult system and equipment experts.
f. If a procedure or work document is
unclear or cannot be performed as written,
individuals stop work until the issue is
resolved.

1
Job-site review: An action performed by an individual or group to
improve situational awareness at the job site; also known as two-minute
drill, timeout, two-minute rule, take-a-minute, and two-minute timeout.

10
QA.3 Challenge Assumptions: Individuals
challenge assumptions and offer opposing
views when they think something is not
correct.
Behavior Examples:
a. Leaders solicit challenges to assumptions
when evaluating nuclear safety issues.
b. Individual contributors ask questions to
fully understand the bases of operational
and management decisions that appear to
be contrary to nuclear safety.
c. Managers question assumptions, decisions,
and justifications that do not appear
to consider impacts to nuclear safety
sufficiently.
QA.4 Avoid Complacency: Individuals recognize
and plan for the possibility of mistakes,
latent problems, and inherent risk, even while
expecting successful outcomes.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization is aware that latent
conditions can exist, addresses them as
they are discovered, and considers the
extents of the conditions and their causes.

11
b. Prior to authorizing work, individuals
verify procedure prerequisites are met
rather than assuming they are met based on
general plant conditions.
c. Individual contributors perform a thorough
review of the work site and the planned
activity every time work is performed
rather than relying on past successes and
assumed conditions.
d. Leaders ensure specific contingency
actions are discussed and understood
during job planning and prejob briefings.
e. Individuals consider potential undesired
consequences of their actions prior
to performing work and implement
appropriate error reduction tools.

12
Effective Safety Communication
Communications maintain a focus on safety.
Safety communication is broad and includes plant-
level communication, job-related communication,
worker-level communication, equipment labeling,
operating experience, and documentation. Leaders
use formal and informal communication to convey
the importance of safety. The flow of information up
the organization is considered to be as important as
the flow of information down the organization.
Attributes:
CO.1 Work Process Communications: Individuals
incorporate safety communications in work
activities.
Behavior Examples:
a. Communications within work groups are
timely, frequent, and accurate.
b. Work groups and supervisors communicate
work statuses with other work groups and
supervisors during the performance of
their work activities.
c. Individuals communicate with each other
such that everyone has the information
necessary to accomplish work activities
safely and effectively.
13
 d. Communications during shift turnovers
and prejob briefings provide information
necessary to support nuclear safety.
e. Work groups integrate nuclear safety
messages into daily activities and meetings.
CO.2 Bases for Decisions: Leaders ensure that
the bases for operational and organizational
decisions are communicated in a timely
manner.
Behavior Examples:
a. Leaders promptly communicate expected
outcomes, potential problems, planned
contingencies, and abort criteria for
important operational decisions.
b. Leaders share information on a wide
range of issues with individuals and
periodically verify their understanding of
the information.
c. Leaders take steps to avoid unintended or
conflicting messages that may be conveyed
by operational decisions.
d. Leaders encourage individuals to ask
questions if they do not understand the
basis of an operational or management
decision.

14
 e. Executives and senior managers
communicate the reasons for resource
allocation decisions, including the nuclear
safety implications of those decisions.
CO.3 Free Flow of Information: Individuals
communicate openly and candidly, both up,
down, and across the organization and with
oversight, audit, and regulatory organizations.
Behavior Examples:
a. Leaders encourage the free flow of
information.
b. Individuals share information openly and
candidly.
c. Leaders respond to individuals in an open,
honest, and nondefensive manner.
d. Individuals provide complete, accurate,
and forthright information to oversight,
audit, and regulatory organizations.
e. Leaders actively solicit feedback, listen to
concerns, and communicate openly with
all individuals.
f. Leaders candidly communicate the results
of monitoring and assessments throughout
the organization and with independent
oversight organizations.
15
CO.4 Expectations: Leaders frequently
communicate and reinforce the expectation
that nuclear safety is the organization’s
overriding priority.
Behavior Examples:
a. Executives and senior managers
communicate expectations regarding
nuclear safety so that individuals
understand that safety is the highest
priority.
b. Executives and senior managers
implement a strategy of frequent
communication using a variety of tools
to reinforce that nuclear safety is the
overriding priority.
c. Executives and senior managers reinforce
the importance of nuclear safety by clearly
communicating its relationship to strategic
issues, including budget, workforce
planning, equipment reliability, and
business plans.
d. Leaders communicate desired nuclear
safety behaviors to individuals, providing
examples of how behaviors positively or
negatively affect nuclear safety.

16
 e. Leaders routinely verify that
communications on the importance
of nuclear safety have been heard and
understood.
f. Leaders ensure supplemental personnel
understand expected behaviors and actions
necessary to maintain nuclear safety.

Leadership Safety Values and Actions

Leaders demonstrate a commitment to safety in
their decisions and behaviors. Executive and senior
managers are the leading advocates of nuclear safety
and demonstrate their commitment both in word and
action. The nuclear safety message is communicated
frequently and consistently, occasionally as a
stand-alone theme. Leaders throughout the nuclear
organization set an example for safety. Corporate
policies emphasize the overriding importance of
nuclear safety.
Attributes:
LA.1 Resources: Leaders ensure that personnel,
equipment, procedures, and other resources are
available and adequate to support nuclear safety.

17
Behavior Examples:
a. Managers ensure staffing levels are
consistent with the demands related to
maintaining safety and reliability.
b. Managers ensure sufficient qualified
personnel are available to maintain work
hours within working hour guidelines
during all modes of operation.
c. Managers ensure facilities are available
and are regularly maintained, including
physical improvements, simulator fidelity,
and emergency facilities.
d. Leaders ensure tools, equipment,
procedures, and other resource materials
are available to support successful work
performance, including risk management
tools and emergency equipment.
e. Executives and senior managers ensure
sufficient corporate resources are allocated
to the nuclear organization for short- and
long-term safe and reliable operation.
f. Executives and senior managers ensure a
rigorous evaluation of the nuclear safety
implications of deferred work.

18
LA.2 Field Presence: Leaders are commonly seen
in working areas of the plant observing,
coaching, and reinforcing standards and
expectations. Deviations from standards and
expectations are corrected promptly.
Behavior Examples:
a. Senior managers ensure supervisory and
management oversight of work activities,
including contractors and supplemental
personnel, such that nuclear safety is
supported.
b. Leaders from all levels in the organization
are involved in overseeing work activities.
c. Managers and supervisors practice visible
leadership in the field and during safety-
significant evolutions by “placing eyes on the
problem,” coaching, mentoring, reinforcing
standards, and reinforcing positive decision-
making practices and behaviors.
d. Managers and supervisors discuss their
observations in detail with the group they
observed and provide useful feedback
about how to improve individual
performance.

19
 e. Managers encourage informal leaders to
model safe behaviors and high standards
of accountability.
LA.3 Incentives, Sanctions, and Rewards: Leaders
ensure incentives, sanctions, and rewards
are aligned with nuclear safety policies and
reinforce behaviors and outcomes that reflect
safety as the overriding priority.
Behavior Examples:
a. Managers ensure disciplinary actions are
appropriate, consistent, and support both
nuclear safety and a safety-conscious work
environment.
b. Managers reward individuals who identify
and raise issues that affect nuclear safety.
c. Leaders foster an environment that
promotes accountability and hold
individuals accountable for their actions.
d. Managers consider the potential chilling
effects of disciplinary actions and other
potentially adverse personnel actions
and take compensatory actions when
appropriate.
e. Leaders publicly praise behaviors that
reflect a positive safety culture.

20
LA.4 Strategic Commitment to Safety: Leaders
ensure plant priorities are aligned to reflect
nuclear safety as the overriding priority.
Behavior Examples:
a. Executives and senior managers reinforce
nuclear safety as the overriding priority.
b. Managers develop and implement cost and
schedule goals in a manner that reinforces
the importance of nuclear safety.
c. Managers ensure production requirements
are established, communicated, and put
into practice in a manner that reinforces
nuclear safety.
d. Executives and senior managers use
information from independent oversight
organizations to establish priorities that
align with nuclear safety.
e. Executives and senior managers establish
strategic and business plans that reflect
the importance of nuclear safety over
production.
f. Executives and senior managers ensure
corporate priorities are aligned with
nuclear safety.

21
LA.5 Change Management: Leaders use a
systematic process for evaluating and
implementing change so that nuclear safety
remains the overriding priority.
Behavior Examples:
a. When making decisions related to major
changes, managers use a systematic process
for planning, coordinating, and evaluating
the safety impacts and potential negative
effects on the willingness of individuals to
raise safety concerns. This includes decisions
concerning changes to organizational
structure and functions, leadership, policies,
programs, procedures, and resources.
b. Executives and senior managers ensure
nuclear safety is maintained when
planning, communicating, and executing
major changes.
c. Managers maintain a clear focus on
nuclear safety when implementing the
change management process, to avoid
significant unintended consequences.
d. Managers ensure that individuals
understand the importance of, and their
role in, the change management process.

22
 e. Managers anticipate, manage, and
communicate the effects of impending
changes.
f. Managers and supervisors actively monitor
and address potential distractions from
nuclear safety during periods of change.
LA.6 Roles, Responsibilities, and Authorities:
Leaders clearly define roles, responsibilities,
and authorities to ensure nuclear safety.
Behavior Examples:
a. Leaders ensure roles, responsibilities, and
authorities are clearly defined, understood,
and documented.
b. Managers appropriately delegate
responsibility and authority to promote
ownership and accountability.
c. Executives and senior managers ensure
both corporate managers who support the
nuclear organization and managers at the
station understand their respective roles
and responsibilities.

23
 d. Recommendations and feedback from
corporate governance, review boards, and
independent oversight organizations do
not override senior managers’ ultimate
responsibility for decisions that affect
nuclear safety.
LA.7 Constant Examination: Leaders ensure
that nuclear safety is constantly scrutinized
through a variety of monitoring techniques,
including assessments of nuclear safety
culture.
Behavior Examples:
a. Executives and senior managers ensure
that board members and members of
independent oversight organizations meet
with leaders and individual contributors
in their work environments to develop
an understanding of the status of the
organization’s safety culture.
b. Executives and senior managers obtain
outside perspectives of nuclear safety
through the selection of qualified,
critical independent safety review board
members with diverse backgrounds and
perspectives.

24
 c. Executives and senior managers use a
variety of monitoring tools—including
employee surveys, independent and self-
assessments, external safety review board
member feedback, and employee concern
investigations—to regularly monitor
station nuclear safety culture.
d. Leaders support and participate in candid
assessments of workplace attitudes and
nuclear safety culture and act on issues
that affect trust in management or detract
from a positive nuclear safety culture.
LA.8 Leader Behaviors: Leaders exhibit behaviors
that set the standard for safety.
Behavior Examples:
a. Leaders “walk the talk,” modeling the
correct behaviors, especially when
resolving apparent conflicts between
nuclear safety and production.
b. Leaders act promptly when a nuclear
safety issue is raised to ensure it is
understood and appropriately addressed.
c. Leaders maintain high standards of
personal conduct that promote all aspects
of a positive nuclear safety culture.

25
 d. Leaders demonstrate interest in plant
operations and actively seek out the
opinions and concerns of workers at all
levels.
e. Leaders encourage personnel to challenge
unsafe behavior and unsafe conditions,
and they support personnel who stop plant
activities for safety reasons.
f. Leaders motivate others to practice
positive nuclear safety culture behaviors.

Decision-Making
Decisions that support or affect nuclear safety
are systematic, rigorous, and thorough. Operators
are vested with the authority and understand
the expectation, when faced with unexpected or
uncertain conditions, to place the plant in a safe
condition. Senior leaders support and reinforce
conservative decisions.
Attributes:
DM.1 Consistent Process: Individuals use a
consistent, systematic approach to make
decisions. Risk insights are incorporated as
appropriate.

26
 Behavior Examples:
a. The organization establishes a well-defined
decision-making process, with variations
allowed for the complexity of the issue
being decided.
b. Individuals demonstrate an understanding
of the decision-making process and use it
consistently.
c. Leaders seek inputs from different work
groups or organizations as appropriate
when making safety- or risk-significant
decisions.
d. When previous operational decisions are
called into question by new facts, leaders
reevaluate these decisions to ensure they
remain appropriate.
e. The organization uses the results of
effectiveness reviews to improve future
decisions.
DM.2 Conservative Bias: Individuals use decision-
making practices that emphasize prudent
choices over those that are simply allowable.
A proposed action is determined to be safe in
order to proceed, rather than unsafe in order
to stop.

27
Behavior Examples:
a. Managers ensure that conservative
assumptions are used when determining
whether emergent or unscheduled work
can be conducted safely.
b. Leaders take a conservative approach
to decision-making, particularly when
information is incomplete or conditions are
unusual.
c. Leaders consider long-term consequences
when determining how to resolve emergent
concerns.
d. Managers take timely action to address
degraded conditions commensurate with
their safety significance.
e. Executives and senior managers reinforce
the expectation that the reactor will be shut
down when procedurally required, when
the margin for safe operation has degraded
unacceptably, or when the condition of the
reactor is uncertain. Managers implement
this expectation.
f. Individuals do not rationalize assumptions
for the sake of completing a task.

28
DM.3 Accountability for Decisions: Single-point
accountability is maintained for nuclear safety
decisions.
Behavior Examples:
a. The on-shift licensed operators have the
authority and responsibility to place the
plant in a safe condition when faced with
unexpected or uncertain conditions.
b. A designated, on-shift licensed senior
reactor operator has the authority and
responsibility to determine equipment
operability.
c. Managers maintain single-point
accountability for important safety
decisions.
d. The organization ensures that important
nuclear safety decisions are made by the
correct person at the lowest appropriate
level.

29
Respectful Work Environment
Trust and respect permeate the organization. A
high level of trust is established in the organization,
fostered, in part, through timely and accurate
communication. Differing professional opinions
are encouraged, discussed, and resolved in a timely
manner. Employees are informed of steps taken in
response to their concerns.
Attributes:
WE.1 Respect is Evident: Everyone is treated with
dignity and respect.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization regards individuals
and their professional capabilities and
experiences as its most valuable asset.
b. Individuals at all levels of the organization
treat each other with dignity and respect.
c. Individuals treat each other with respect.
d. Individuals do not demonstrate or tolerate
bullying or humiliating behaviors.
e. Leaders monitor for behaviors that can
have a negative impact on the work
environment and address them promptly.

30
 f. Leaders ensure policies and expectations
are enforced fairly and consistently for
individuals at all levels of the organization.
g. Individuals treat decision-makers with
respect, even when they disagree with a
decision.
h. Leaders ensure facilities are conducive
to a productive work environment and
housekeeping is maintained.
WE.2 Opinions are Valued: Individuals are
encouraged to voice concerns, provide
suggestions, and raise questions. Differing
opinions are respected.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization encourages individuals
to offer ideas, concerns, suggestions,
differing opinions, and questions to help
identify and solve problems.
b. Leaders are receptive to ideas, concerns,
suggestions, differing opinions, and
questions.
c. The organization promotes robust
discussions, recognizing that differing
opinions are a natural result of differences
in expertise and experience.

31
 d. Individuals value the insights and
perspectives provided by quality
assurance, the employee concerns
program, and independent oversight
organization personnel.
WE.3 High Level of Trust: Trust is fostered among
individuals and work groups throughout the
organization.
Behavior Examples:
a. Leaders promote collaboration among
work groups.
b. Leaders respond to questions and concerns
in an open and honest manner.
c. Leaders, sensitive to the negative impact
of a lack of information, share important
information in an open, honest, and timely
manner such that trust is maintained.
d. Leaders ensure that plant status
and important work milestones are
communicated throughout the organization.
e. Leaders acknowledge positive
performance and address negative
performance promptly and directly with
the individual involved. Confidentiality is
maintained as appropriate.

32
 f. Leaders welcome performance feedback
from throughout the organization and
modify their behavior when appropriate.
WE.4 Conflict Resolution: Fair and objective
methods are used to resolve conflicts.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization implements processes
to ensure fair and objective resolution of
conflicts and differing views.
b. Leaders ensure conflicts are resolved
in a balanced, equitable, and consistent
manner, even when outside of defined
processes.
c. Individuals have confidence that conflicts
will be resolved respectfully and
professionally.

33
Continuous Learning
Opportunities to learn about ways to ensure
safety are sought out and implemented. Operating
experience is highly valued, and the capacity to learn
from experience is well developed. Training, self-
assessments, and benchmarking are used to stimulate
learning and improve performance. Nuclear safety
is kept under constant scrutiny through a variety of
monitoring techniques, some of which provide an
independent “fresh look.”
Attributes:
CL.1 Operating Experience: The organization
systematically and effectively collects,
evaluates, and implements relevant internal
and external operating experience in a timely
manner.
Behavior Examples:
a. A process is in place to ensure a thorough
review of operating experience provided
by internal and external sources.
b. Operating experience is implemented
and institutionalized effectively through
changes to station processes, procedures,
equipment, and training programs.

34
 c. Operating experience is used to understand
equipment, operational, and industry
challenges and to adopt new ideas to
improve performance.
d. Operating experience is used to support
daily work functions, with emphasis on the
possibility that “it could happen here.”
e. Station operating experience is shared in a
timely manner.
CL.2 Self-Assessment: The organization
routinely conducts self-critical and objective
assessments of its programs and practices.
Behavior Examples:
a. Independent and self-assessments,
including nuclear safety culture
assessments, are thorough and effective
and are used as a basis for improvements.
b. The organization values the insights and
perspectives assessments provide.
c. Self-assessments are performed on a
variety of topics, including the self-
assessment process itself.

35
 d. Self-assessments are performed at a
regular frequency and provide objective,
comprehensive, and self-critical
information that drives corrective actions.
e. Targeted self-assessments are performed
when a more thorough understanding of an
issue is required.
f. A balanced approach of self-assessments
and independent oversight is used and
periodically adjusted based on changing
needs.
g. Self-assessment teams include individual
contributors and leaders from within
the organization and from external
organizations when appropriate.
CL.3 Benchmarking: The organization learns from
other organizations to continuously improve
knowledge, skills, and safety performance.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization uses benchmarking as an
avenue for acquiring innovative ideas to
improve nuclear safety.
b. The organization participates in
benchmarking activities with other nuclear
and nonnuclear facilities.

36
 c. The organization seeks out best practices
by using benchmarking to understand how
others perform the same functions.
d. The organization uses benchmarking to
compare station standards to the industry
and to make adjustments to improve
performance.
e. Individual contributors are actively
involved in benchmarking.
CL.4 Training: The organization provides training
and ensures knowledge transfer to maintain
a knowledgeable, technically competent
workforce and instill nuclear safety values.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization fosters an environment
in which individuals value and seek
continuous learning opportunities.
b. Individuals, including supplemental
workers, are adequately trained to
ensure technical competency and an
understanding of standards and work
requirements.

37
c. Individuals master reactor and power
plant fundamentals to establish a solid
foundation for sound decisions and
behaviors.
d. The organization develops and effectively
implements knowledge transfer and
knowledge retention strategies.
e. Knowledge transfer and knowledge
retention strategies are applied to capture
the knowledge and skill of experienced
individuals to advance the knowledge and
skill of less experienced individuals.
f. Leadership and management skills are
systematically developed.
g. Training is developed and continuously
improved using input and feedback from
individual contributors and subject-matter
experts.
h. Executives obtain the training necessary to
understand basic plant operation and the
relationships between major functions and
organizations.

38
Problem Identification and Resolution
Issues potentially impacting safety are promptly
identified, fully evaluated, and promptly
addressed and corrected commensurate with
their significance. Identification and resolution of a
broad spectrum of problems, including organizational
issues, are used to strengthen safety and improve
performance.
Attributes:
PI.1 Identification: The organization implements
a corrective action program with a low
threshold for identifying issues. Individuals
identify issues completely, accurately, and
in a timely manner in accordance with the
program.
Behavior Examples:
a. Individuals recognize deviations from
standards.
b. Individuals understand how to enter issues
into the corrective action program.
c. Individuals ensure that issues, problems,
degraded conditions, and near misses
are promptly reported and documented
in the corrective action program at a low
threshold.
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 d. Individuals describe the issues entered in
the corrective action program in sufficient
detail to ensure they can be appropriately
prioritized, trended, and assigned for
resolution.
PI.2 Evaluation: The organization thoroughly
evaluates problems to ensure that resolutions
address causes and extents of conditions
commensurate with their safety significance.
Behavior Examples:
a. Issues are properly classified, prioritized,
and evaluated according to their safety
significance.
b. Operability and reportability
determinations are developed when
appropriate.
c. Apparent and root cause investigations
identify primary and contributing causal
factors as required.
d. Extent-of-condition and extent-of-cause
evaluations are completed in a timely
manner, commensurate with the safety
significance of the issue.
e. Issues are investigated thoroughly
according to their safety significance.

40
 f. Root cause analyses are rigorously applied
to identify and correct the fundamental
cause of significant issues.
g. The underlying organizational and
safety culture contributors to issues are
evaluated thoroughly and are given the
necessary time and resources to be clearly
understood.
h. Cause analyses identify and understand the
bases for decisions that contributed to issues.
i. Managers conduct effectiveness reviews
of significant corrective actions to ensure
that the resolution addressed the causes
effectively.
PI.3 Resolution: The organization takes effective
corrective actions to address issues in a timely
manner commensurate with their safety
significance.
Behavior Examples:
a. Corrective actions are completed in a
timely manner.
b. Deferrals of corrective actions are
minimized. When required, due dates are
extended using an established process that
appropriately considers safety significance.

41
 c. Appropriate interim corrective actions
are taken to mitigate issues while more
fundamental causes are being assessed.
d. Corrective actions resolve and correct the
identified issues, including causes and
extents of conditions.
e. Corrective actions prevent the recurrence
of significant conditions adverse to quality.
f. Trends in safety performance indicators
are acted on to resolve problems early.
PI.4 Trending: The organization periodically
analyzes information from the corrective
action program and other assessments in
the aggregate to identify programmatic and
common cause issues.
Behavior Examples:
a. The organization develops indicators that
monitor both equipment and organizational
performance, including safety culture.
b. Managers use indicators that provide an
accurate representation of performance
and early indications of declining trends.
c. Managers routinely challenge the
organization’s understanding of declining
trends.
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 d. Organizational and departmental trend
reviews are completed in a timely manner
in accordance with program expectations.

Environment for Raising Concerns

A safety-conscious work environment (SCWE) is
maintained where personnel feel free to raise safety
concerns without fear of retaliation, intimidation,
harassment, or discrimination. The station creates,
maintains, and evaluates policies and processes that
allow personnel to raise concerns freely.
Attributes:
RC.1 SCWE Policy: The organization effectively
implements a policy that supports individuals’
rights and responsibilities to raise safety
concerns and does not tolerate harassment,
intimidation, retaliation, or discrimination for
doing so.
Behavior Examples:
a. Individuals feel free to raise nuclear safety
concerns without fear of retribution, with
confidence that their concerns will be
addressed.

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b. Executives and senior managers set and
reinforce expectations for establishing
and maintaining a safety-conscious work
environment.
c. Policies and procedures reinforce that
individuals have the right and responsibility
to raise nuclear safety concerns.
d. Policies and procedures define the
responsibilities of leaders to create an
environment in which individuals feel free
to raise safety concerns.
e. Policies and procedures establish the
expectation that leaders will respond in
a respectful manner and provide timely
feedback to the individual raising the concern.
f. Leaders are trained to take ownership
when receiving and responding to
concerns, recognizing confidentiality
if appropriate, and ensuring they are
adequately addressed in a timely manner.
g. Individuals are trained that behaviors
or actions that could prevent concerns
from being raised, including harassment,
intimidation, retaliation, or discrimination,
will not be tolerated and are violations of
law and policy.

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 h. All claims of retaliation are investigated
and any necessary corrective actions are
taken in a timely manner, including actions
to mitigate any potential chilling effect.
RC.2 Alternate Process for Raising Concerns: The
organization effectively implements a process
for raising and resolving concerns that is
independent of line management influence.
Safety issues may be raised in confidence and
are resolved in a timely and effective manner.
Behavior Examples:
a. Executives establish, support, and promote
the use of alternative processes for raising
concerns and ensure corrective actions are
taken.
b. Leaders understand their role in supporting
alternate processes for raising concerns.
c. Processes for raising concerns or
resolving differing professional opinions
that are alternatives to the corrective
action program and operate outside
the influence of the management chain
are communicated and accessible to
individuals.

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 d. Alternative processes are independent,
include an option to raise concerns
confidentially, and ensure these concerns
are appropriately resolved in a timely
manner.
e. Individuals receive feedback in a timely
manner.
f. Individuals have confidence that issues
raised will be appropriately resolved.
g. Individuals assigned to respond
to concerns have the appropriate
competencies.

Work Processes
The process of planning and controlling work
activities is implemented so that safety is
maintained. Work management is a deliberate
process in which work is identified, selected, planned,
scheduled, executed, closed, and critiqued. The
entire organization is involved in and fully supports
the process.

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Attributes:
WP.1 Work Management: The organization
implements a process of planning, controlling,
and executing work activities such that
nuclear safety is the overriding priority. The
work process includes the identification and
management of risk commensurate to the
work.
Behavior Examples:
a. Work is effectively planned and executed
by incorporating risk insights, job-site
conditions, and the need for coordination
with different groups or job activities.
b. The work process appropriately prioritizes
work and incorporates contingency plans,
compensatory actions, and abort criteria as
needed.
c. Leaders consider the impact of changes
to the work scope and the need to keep
personnel apprised of the work status.
d. The work process ensures individuals are
aware of the plant status, the nuclear safety
risks associated with work in the field, and
other parallel station activities.

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 e. Insights from probabilistic risk
assessments are considered in daily work
activities and change processes.
f. Work activities are coordinated to
address conflicting or changing priorities
across the whole spectrum of activities
contributing to nuclear safety.
g. The work process limits temporary
modifications.
WP.2 Design Margins: The organization operates
and maintains equipment within design
margins. Margins are carefully guarded
and changed only through a systematic
and rigorous process. Special attention
is placed on maintaining fission product
barriers, defense-in-depth, and safety-related
equipment.
Behavior Examples:
a. The work process supports nuclear safety
and the maintenance of design margins
by minimizing long-standing equipment
issues, preventive maintenance deferrals,
and maintenance and engineering
backlogs.

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 b. The work process ensures focus on
maintaining fission product barriers,
defense-in-depth, and safety-related
equipment.
c. Design and operating margins are carefully
guarded and are changed only with great
thought and care.
d. Safety-related equipment is operated
and maintained well within design
requirements.
WP.3 Documentation: The organization creates and
maintains complete, accurate, and up-to-date
documentation.
Behavior Examples:
a. Plant activities are governed by
comprehensive, high-quality programs,
processes, and procedures.
b. Design documentation, procedures, and
work packages are complete, thorough,
accurate, and current.
c. Components are labeled clearly,
consistently, and accurately.

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 d. The backlog of document changes is
understood, prioritized, and actively
managed to ensure quality.
WP.4 Procedure Adherence: Individuals follow
processes, procedures, and work instructions.
Behavior Examples:
a. Individuals follow procedures.
b. Individuals understand and use human
error reduction techniques.
c. Individuals review procedures and
instructions prior to work to validate that
they are appropriate for the scope of work
and that required changes are completed
prior to implementation.
d. Individuals manipulate plant equipment
only when appropriately authorized and
directed by approved plant procedures or
work instructions.
e. Individuals ensure the statuses of work
activities are properly documented.

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The table below is from Traits of a Healthy Nuclear
Safety Culture Addendum II: Cross-References.
TABLE
INPO PRINCIPLES TO TRAITS

INPO Principle Trait

Everyone is personally Personal Accountability
responsible for nuclear safety.
Leaders demonstrate Leadership Safety
commitment to safety. Values and Actions
Trust permeates the Effective Safety
organization. Communication
Respectful Work
Environment
Environment for Raising
Concerns
Decision-making reflects Decision-Making
safety first.
Nuclear technology is Work Processes
recognized as special and
unique.
A questioning attitude is Questioning Attitude
cultivated.
Organizational learning is Continuous Learning
embraced.
Problem Identification
and Resolution
Nuclear safety undergoes Continuous Learning
constant examination.
Problem Identification
and Resolution

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NOTES
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