SAFETY CULTURE

Effective Safety 

Communication 

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 

fuel cycles 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 Effective Safety 

Communication? 

The NRC’s SCPS defines Effective Safety Communication as communications that maintain 

a focus on safety.

Why Is This Trait Important?

Effective safety communication is vital to maintaining a safety culture. When employees 

regularly communicate with each other in an open, respectful manner, they are also more 

willing to give and receive feedback. Effective communication also supports teamwork and 

coordination between groups. 

Employees learn about, and become part of, an organization’s safety culture through 

communication. Lack of clear communication from management can result in situations 

where managers say one thing but do another. Employees then spend time and energy 

trying to interpret the conflicting messages. In such situations, employees will generally 

interpret a manager’s behavior as the more valid indicator of the organization’s values and 

priorities. Persistent mismatches between formal and informal communications can lead 

employees to disregard or develop a cynical view of formal communications. This can lead 

to ineffective formal communications from management and a weakened safety culture. 

Top-down communication is most effective when senior managers communicate directly 

with immediate supervisors and immediate supervisors communicate with their staff. 

Ensuring that supervisors are informed about organizational issues, and then allowing 

them to communicate these issues to their staff, helps create and reinforce the supervisor’s 

power. Research shows that when employees perceive their supervisor as having power, 

employees have greater trust in their supervisor, greater desire to communicate with their 

supervisor, and are more likely to believe the information coming from their supervisor. 

Upward communication from workers to managers, and information exchange among 

workers, is essential for organizational learning and safe operations. An employee’s 

perceptions about support for safety can strongly influence his or her willingness to speak 

up. Some common barriers to upward communication include fear of retaliation, concerns 

that the communication will be filtered as it goes up the chain of command, perceptions 

that management is resistant to critical feedback, and fear of creating interpersonal conflict. 

These communication barriers, if unaddressed, can have a negative impact on information 

exchange, organizational learning, and ultimately safe performance. To facilitate effective 

upward communication, it is important for managers to create an environment that 

is supportive, encouraging, and accepting of both positive and negative feedback, so 

employees always feel free to speak up.

Issue 6 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?

Work Process Communications: Individuals 

incorporate safety communications in work activities. 

Communications within work groups are timely, 

frequent, and accurate. Work groups and supervisors 

communicate with other work groups and supervisors 

during the performance of their work activities. Individuals 

communicate with each other such that everyone has the 

information necessary to accomplish work activities safely 

and effectively. Communications during shift turnovers and 

pre-job briefings provide information necessary to support 

nuclear safety. Work groups integrate nuclear safety messages 

into daily activities and meetings. 

Bases for Decisions: Leaders ensure that the bases for 

operational and organizational decisions are communicated 

in a timely manner. 

Leaders promptly communicate expected outcomes, potential 

problems, planned contingencies, and abort criteria for 

important decisions. Leaders share information on a wide 

range of issues with individuals and periodically verify their 

understanding of the information. Leaders take steps to avoid 

unintended or conflicting messages that may be conveyed by 

decisions. Leaders encourage individuals to ask questions if 

they do not understand the basis of a management decision. 

Executives and senior managers communicate the reasons 

for resource allocation decisions, organizational changes, 

and other decisions affecting the organization as a whole, 

including the safety implications of those decisions. 

Free Flow of Information: Individuals 

communicate openly and candidly, both up, down, and 

across the organization and with oversight, audit, and 

regulatory organizations. 

Leaders encourage the free flow of information. Individuals 

share information openly and candidly. Leaders respond 

to individuals in an open, honest, and non-defensive 

manner. Individuals provide complete, accurate, and 

forthright information to oversight, audit, and regulatory 

organizations. Leaders actively solicit feedback, listen to 

concerns, and communicate openly with all individuals. 

Leaders candidly communicate the results of monitoring 

and assessments throughout the organization and with 

independent oversight organizations. 

Expectations: Leaders frequently communicate 

and reinforce the expectation that nuclear safety is the 

organization’s overriding priority. 

Executives and senior managers communicate expectations 

regarding nuclear safety so that individuals understand 

that safety is the highest priority. Executives and senior 

managers implement a strategy of frequent communication 

using a variety of tools to reinforce that nuclear safety is the 

overriding priority. 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. Leaders 

communicate desired safety behaviors to individuals, 

providing examples of how behaviors positively or 

negatively affect nuclear safety. Leaders routinely verify that 

communications on the importance of nuclear safety have 

been heard and understood. Leaders ensure supplemental 

personnel understand expected behaviors and actions 

necessary to maintain nuclear safety.

2 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
SAFETY CULTURE TRAIT TALK

WHAT IS A SCENARIO IN WHICH 

THIS TRAIT COULD PLAY A ROLE?

Fuel fabrication facilities monitor many of the processes of 

plant operations that use special nuclear material from the 

control room. This monitoring allows qualified operators 

to identify process deviations or system problems when 

processes are not working as intended or there are equipment 

malfunctions. During one shift, an operator noticed a slight 

decrease in the solution level inside the extraction column 

of the uranium recovery process. The operator was not 

properly trained for recognizing the possible scenarios and 

the required actions for seeing such level fluctuation in the 

panel. The operator sent an employee for a visual check of 

the extraction system equipment. That employee found 

a small amount of liquid on the floor near the extraction 

column level control valve and assumed it was a leaking valve 

stem near the control valve. The employee communicated 

to the control room that everything was okay. During 

the next shift, a second operator continued to see a level 

deviation in the monitor of the extraction column process 

area and notified his supervisor. The supervisor immediately 

inspected the system components and identified a leak in the 

extraction column piping which resulted in a spill of highenriched uranium solution with the potential of causing an 

inadvertent criticality accident. 

A criticality accident is an uncontrolled, sustained, nuclear 

chain reaction that occurs in an unsafe geometry containing 

fissile material. The sudden release of heat, neutrons, and 

gamma radiation associated with an inadvertent criticality 

accident may be lethal to nearby personnel. Criticality 

safety and the prevention of accidental criticality depend on 

a number of factors which are not production parameters: 

material enrichment, geometry, reflection, moderation, and 

other conditions. After communicating with the responsible 

individuals, the spill was handled in accordance with plant 

procedures and no inadvertent criticality occurred. 

The lack of communications in this scenario resulted in an 

increased potential for a criticality accident. The risk of an 

inadvertent criticality accident could have been significantly 

lower had the operator in the first shift communicated 

the need for additional training and communicated the 

level fluctuation he identified to the supervisor. The risk 

of a potential occupational exposure could also have been 

significantly lower had the employee who first inspected 

the system notified the operator and supervisors about the 

small spill so it could have been immediately addressed. 

Communications that maintain a focus on safety are essential 

for the safe handling of special nuclear material and for the 

protection of the workers, the public and the environment. 

Thinking about the scenario discussed above, consider the 

following questions:

1. How does this scenario apply to the safety 

culture trait Effective Safety Communication?

2. What kinds of communications 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 6, 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.