SAFETY CULTURE

Problem Identification 

and Resolution 

TRAIT TALK

Trait Talk was developed to provide you 

with a better understanding of the nine 

safety culture traits found in the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) 

Safety Culture Policy Statement (SCPS) 

and how they apply to you—whether 

you are an NRC licensee, a vendor or 

contractor employee, an organization 

interested in the safe and secure use 

of nuclear materials, or others involved 

in nuclear safety regulation. Please see 

page 4 of Safety Culture Trait Talk for 

more information on the SCPS.

Experience has shown that certain 

personal and organizational traits are 

present in a positive safety culture. 

A trait, in this case, is a pattern of 

thinking, feeling, and behaving that 

emphasizes safety, particularly in goal 

conflict situations, for example, in 

situations where production, schedule, 

or just the cost of effort may conflict 

with doing the job safely. The NRC 

identified nine traits of a positive safety 

culture in the SCPS, although the agency 

recognizes that additional traits may also 

be important. In addition, please note 

that the traits were not developed to 

be used for inspection purposes.

Each Trait Talk includes a fictional 

scenario based on a different 

licensee or community. The scenario 

used in this Trait Talk is based on the 

nuclear power reactor community. 

As you read through Trait Talk, consider 

the following questions: 

1. How does this trait apply to my 

organization? 

2. Are there other attributes and 

examples that better fit my 

organization? 

3. What impact does this trait have on 

the safety culture in my organization? 

4. How does this increase my 

understanding of the safety culture 

in my organization? 

5. How could I improve the performance 

of this trait in my organization?

What Is The Definition Of Problem 

Identification And Resolution? 

The NRC’s SCPS defines Problem Identification and Resolution as when issues potentially 

impacting safety are promptly identified, fully evaluated, and promptly addressed and corrected 

commensurate with their significance.

Why Is This Trait Important?

Problem identification and resolution is an important element of safety culture. 

Leaders are responsible for identifying and diagnosing organizational or technical 

deficiencies, taking corrective action, and anticipating emerging issues. All members 

of an organization support problem identification and resolution by promptly raising 

and reporting concerns (for example, by working through a corrective action program). 

The extent and manner in which organizations identify and resolve problems serve 

as an example how the organization prioritizes safety. The ability and willingness of 

workers and managers to identify and address problems is also important for continuous 

learning, another trait of a positive safety culture.

An effective problem identification and resolution program uses the organization’s 

corrective action program, operating experience, and self-assessment results to ensure 

safe operations. The corrective action program should have a transparent process for 

evaluating, prioritizing, and resolving issues. Leaders should ensure that they and the rest 

of the organization fully understand safety-related issues. Without full understanding, 

the organization cannot appropriately prioritize and resolve these issues so that they do 

not occur again. In addition, an effective problem identification and resolution program 

leads to a strong safety conscious work environment. In such an environment, the 

organization removes barriers to a free flow of information to ensure that all employees 

feel free to raise safety-related concerns. 

Organizations can approach problem identification and resolution with different 

mindsets. One mindset focuses on finding existing problems and correcting weaknesses, 

typically through the organization’s corrective action program. However, an organization 

with a positive safety culture also has a problem identification and resolution program 

that anticipates issues, reviews operating experience, and tracks emerging industry 

themes and trends. Organizational learning is most successful when issues are 

anticipated and addressed before they become weaknesses to be corrected.

Issue 4 December, 2014

One of the traits of a positive safety culture as described in the U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission’s Safety Culture Policy Statement.
SAFETY CULTURE TRAIT TALK

WHAT DOES THIS TRAIT LOOK LIKE?

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. 

Individuals recognize deviations from standards and 

understand how to enter issues into the corrective action 

program. They ensure that issues, problems, degraded 

conditions, and near misses are promptly reported and 

documented in the corrective action program at a low 

threshold. 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. 

Evaluation: The organization thoroughly evaluates 

problems to ensure that resolutions address causes and 

extents of conditions commensurate with their safety 

significance. 

The organization ensures that issues are properly classified, 

prioritized, and evaluated according to their safety 

significance. Extent-of-condition and extent-of-cause 

evaluations are completed in a timely manner, commensurate 

with the safety significance of the issue. The organization 

ensures that apparent and root cause investigations 

identifying primary and contributing causal factors are 

completed as required. Issues are investigated thoroughly 

according to their safety significance, and root cause 

analyses are rigorously applied to identify and correct the 

fundamental cause of significant issues. The underlying 

organizational and safety culture contributors to issues 

are evaluated thoroughly and are given the necessary time 

and resources to be clearly understood. Managers conduct 

effectiveness reviews of significant corrective actions to ensure 

that the resolution addressed the causes effectively. 

Resolution: The organization takes effective corrective 

actions to address issues in a timely manner commensurate 

with their safety significance. 

The organization ensures that corrective actions are 

completed in a timely manner. Deferrals of corrective 

actions are minimized, and when required, due dates are 

extended using an established process that appropriately 

considers safety significance. The organization ensures that 

appropriate interim corrective actions are taken to mitigate 

issues while more fundamental causes are being assessed. 

Corrective actions resolve and correct the identified issues, 

including causes and extents of conditions, and prevent the 

recurrence of significant conditions adverse to quality. Trends 

in safety performance indicators are acted on to resolve 

problems early. 

Trending: The organization periodically analyzes 

information from the corrective action program and other 

assessments in the aggregate to identify programmatic and 

common cause issues. 

The organization develops indicators that monitor both 

equipment and organizational performance, including safety 

culture. Managers use indicators that provide an accurate 

representation of performance and early indications of 

declining trends, and routinely challenge the organization’s 

understanding of declining trends. Organizational and 

departmental trend reviews are completed in a timely 

manner in accordance with program expectations.

2 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
SAFETY CULTURE TRAIT TALK

WHAT IS A SCENARIO IN WHICH 

THIS TRAIT COULD PLAY A ROLE?

A maintenance worker at a nuclear power plant found water 

leaking through the roof of the auxiliary building and into 

the emergency shutdown panel during a heavy rainstorm. He 

notified the control room supervisor, cleaned up the water, 

and wrote a condition report. The power plant management 

assigned the condition report a priority 4 (the lowest level). 

After the plant identified the degraded condition of the roof, 

management issued a work order to repair the roof. However, 

other layers of management never approved the work to 

proceed. Shortly afterwards, the plant started a program 

to maintain building integrity in all weather conditions; 

however, the plant never made plans or took actions to 

properly prioritize, identify and correct the roof leakage.

Two years later, the maintenance worker found water pooling 

around the power supply breakers for the feed water pump 

in the auxiliary building. Three months after that, the 

maintenance worker found water dripping onto the highpressure safety injection pump. After both incidents, the 

maintenance worker notified the control room supervisor, 

mopped up the water, covered the equipment with a 

protective material as needed, and wrote a condition report. 

Each time, plant management assigned the condition a 

priority level of 4. The worker identified that the source of 

the water was from the roof of the auxiliary building and 

asked his supervisor why the roof was not repaired. The 

supervisor said work orders were written each time, but they 

were never approved or scheduled due to other priorities. 

The supervisor was not sure about the status of the program 

to ensure building integrity and had never seen any plans or 

schedules to repair roof leaks. Further, when the supervisor 

asked his manager about the ongoing degraded roof issues, 

the manager discovered that there were 43 open work orders 

to repair roof leaks, and none of these orders had ever been 

approved, scheduled, or completed.

Recently, water from a heavy rainstorm again leaked through 

the auxiliary building roof and into the switchgear room. 

This time the water caused an electrical ground short near a 

current transformer, which then tripped the reactor coolant 

pump. This led to a reactor trip due to a low reactor coolant 

system flow signal. 

The auxiliary building provides structural support and 

separation to safety- and nonsafety related equipment, and 

is designed to provide protection against external events 

such as rain, wind, and snow. However, the plant’s failure 

to resolve the leakage through its problem identification 

and resolution and corrective action program left the safety 

systems unprotected. The weak safety culture and problem 

identification and resolution in this plant directly led to the 

reactor trip. 

Thinking about the scenario discussed above, consider the 

following questions:

1. How does this scenario apply to the 

safety culture trait Problem Resolution & 

Identification?

2. What kinds of actions and behaviors would 

have reinforced safety as the overriding priority?

3. How could this situation have been handled 

differently?

WHO CAN I CONTACT WITH A 

QUESTION OR SUGGESTION?

The NRC looks forward to continuing to provide you with 

information about the traits of a positive safety culture. If you 

have a question or would like to make a suggestion, please 

contact the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of 

Enforcement, Safety Culture Team, at external_safety_culture.

resource@nrc.gov.

Issue 4, December 2014 3

Sources of Information:

1 “Why is this trait important?” was derived, in part, 

from a literature review (Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession 

No. ML13023A054) prepared by Pacific Northwest 

National Laboratories for the NRC Office of Nuclear 

Regulatory Research. 

2 “What does this trait look like?” was derived from 

the Safety Culture Common Language effort (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML13031A343), under the direction of 

the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Panelists 

from the NRC, nuclear power industry, and the public 

created attributes of a positive nuclear safety culture, 

and examples of each attribute that a nuclear power 

organization should demonstrate in maintaining a 

positive safety culture. Although these attributes and 

examples were created specifically for the reactor 

community, they may also be applicable to various 

other communities and organizations. For purposes 

of Trait Talk, the examples were partially rewritten to 

increase applicability to nuclear as well as non nuclear 

communities. 

3 “What is a scenario in which this trait played a role?” 

was developed specifically for Safety Culture Trait 

Talk for educational purposes only. The scenario 

is fictional and any resemblance to actual events, 

people, or organizations is purely coincidental.
SAFETY CULTURE TRAIT TALK

4 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The NRC’s SCPS provides the NRC’s expectation that 

individuals and organizations performing regulated 

activities establish and maintain a positive safety culture 

commensurate with the safety and security significance 

of their activities and the nature and complexity of 

their organizations and functions. Because safety and 

security are the primary pillars of the NRC’s regulatory 

mission, consideration of both safety and security issues, 

commensurate with their significance, is an underlying 

principle of the SCPS.

The NRC’s SCPS applies to all licensees, certificate holders, 

permit holders, authorization holders, holders of quality 

assurance program approvals, vendors and suppliers of 

safety-related components, and applicants for a license, 

certificate permit, authorization, or quality assurance 

program approval subject to NRC authority. In addition, 

the Commission encourages the Agreement States (States 

that assume regulatory authority over their own use 

of certain nuclear materials), their licensees, and other 

organizations interested in nuclear safety to support the 

development and maintenance of a positive safety culture 

within their regulated communities. The SCPS is not a 

regulation; therefore, it is the organization’s responsibility, 

as part of its safety culture program, to consider how to 

apply the SCPS to its regulated activities.

The NRC’s SCPS, which includes the definition of nuclear 

safety culture and the nine traits of a positive safety culture, 

can be found on the NRC’s Safety Culture Web site. The 

Web site includes additional safety culture information, as 

well as the NRC safety culture case studies, which describe 

how the presence or absence of safety culture traits affects 

the outcome of the events.

WHAT IS THE NRC’S SAFETY CULTURE POLICY STATEMENT?

There are many definitions of safety culture. Most of these definitions focus on the idea that in a positive safety culture 

individuals and organizations emphasize safety over competing goals, such as production or costs, ensuring a safety-first focus. 

The NRC’s SCPS defines nuclear safety culture 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.

Experience has shown that certain personal and organizational traits are present in a positive safety culture. The following traits 

were included in the NRC’s SCPS, although additional traits may also be important in a positive safety culture:

Leadership Safety Values

and Actions

Problem Identification 

and Resolution Personal Accountability

Leaders demonstrate a 

commitment to safety in 

their decisions and behaviors.

Issues potentially impacting 

safety are promptly identified, 

fully evaluated, and promptly 

addressed and corrected 

commensurate with 

their significance.

All individuals take personal

responsibility for safety.

Work Processes Continuous Learning Environment for 

Raising Concerns

The process of planning and 

controlling work activities is 

implemented so that safety 

is maintained. 

Opportunities to learn about ways 

to ensure safety are sought out 

and implemented.

A safety conscious work 

environment is maintained 

where personnel feel free to 

raise safety concerns without 

fear of retaliation, intimidation, 

harassment or discrimination.

Effective Safety 

Communications Respectful Work Environment Questioning Attitude

Communications maintain 

a focus on safety.

Trust and respect permeate 

the organization.

Individuals avoid complacency 

and continually challenge existing 

conditions and activities in 

order to identify discrepancies 

that might result in error or 

inappropriate action.