Safety Culture: 2010

Making Safety the 

Overriding Priority 

March 30, 2010

Billie Pirner Garde, 

Attorney

Clifford & Garde, LLP
Safety Culture Worksho

• Congratulations and Recognition!• Extraordinary success as a facilit

workshop involving all stakeholde

– Meaningful participation by all– Wide range of views at the polic

level

– Significant interaction between 

impacted groups

– Transparency and collaboration
Draft Safety Culture 

Policy Statement

• Definition of Draft Safety Culture 

Statement a good exercise

– Compromises all had sound bas– Removal of special reference to 

“security culture” appropriate idraft statement

– Agree with draft statement, wit

following exception:

•“Safety as the overriding 

priority........”
Fostering A Strong 

Safety Culture

• Next steps critical to ensure that 

policy statement is comprehensiv

– Personal concerns about the 

attention to Safety Conscious WEnvironment (SCWE) issues;

– Personal concerns about ensur

that policy expectations drive improvements in anti-retaliatiobehaviors and respectful work environment accountabilities
Assessing Safety Cultur

• Believe that regulation is necessary an

prudent in this area

– Adopt and restate my position from M

2002 that regulation will provide consistent, reliable, and repeatable expectations;

– Urge reconsideration of the position 

Commission that we can get there wregulation.

– Recommendation based on philosop

view that we understand and work to is measured, and for which we are haccountable.
Implementation of Safety Cu

Policy Across Industrie

• More workshops appropriate to addres

comprehensive implementation plan;

• Critical that this issue be finalized befo

construction begins

– New construction should all have tra

infrastructure, and employee concerprograms that reflect NRC’s Safety Cpolicy.

– New construction and international 

corporations must be accountable to demonstrate proactively that each mand incorporates new Safety Culture expectations. 
Internal NRC Safety 

Culture Work

• Substantial progress from the day

when intimidation was a significafactor in how the Agency was managed;

• Strong recognition that the freedo

raise concerns and express differprofessional opinions is the foundfor good decision-making process

• Generally, a healthy respect for 

diversity of opinions and collabor
Internal NRC Safety Cultu

Work (cont’d) 

• However, Commission should be vigila

this area and seek to ensure Staff understands:

• No tolerance for intimidating behaviors 

managerial staff;

• Commitment to respectful dialogue on 

differences of opinion for all staff;

• Develop a better internal alternative av

for NRC employees to obtain timely aneffective intervention on their concern
Internal NRC Safety Cultu

Work (cont’d) 

• Support placement of the Safety Cultur

Program Manager position;

• Support issuance of behavioral expect

and Agency training and accountabiliti

• Support Office-Specific Action plans in 

areas in which problematic behaviors hbeen identified by employees;

• Transparency with respect to those pla

actions;

• Important that these programs reach a

employees – in the Regions and at the facilities, where much of the day to day pressures impact staff. 
Thank you for opportunity 

participate in this importa

topic.

Billie Pirner Garde

Clifford & Garde, LLP

1707 L Street, NW Ste 500

Washington, D.C. 20036

(202) 280-6116