Safety Culture Oversight: An Intangible Concept for Tangible Issues within Nuclear Installations

Abstract

Traced back to the Chernobyl Accident analysis (INSAG-1), the concept of safety culture is regarded as a central phenomenon influencing behaviors and values within high-risk organisations. Many studies have already been conducted on safety culture within nuclear installations. Describing a model designed to capture and assess safety culture observations, this paper intends to highlight the role of safety culture within the overall regulatory nuclear safety oversight, and to show how intangible cultural elements can lead to the identification of tangible safety issues.

Keywords

• safety culture observation
• safety culture assessment
• regulatory bodies
• regulatory body safety oversight