The NEA Working Group on Human and Organisational Factors (WGHOF) held its biannual meeting via video conference on 27‑29 October 2020.
The WGHOF focuses on improving the understanding and treatment of human and organisational factors within the nuclear industry, with the goal to support the continued safety performance of nuclear installations and improve the effectiveness of regulatory practices in member countries.
During its October meeting, the group advanced its ongoing work on human and organisational performance and human and organisational factors lessons learnt from the implementation of post‑Fukushima actions, organisational capabilities for decommissioning and Human and Organisational Performance. The group discussed the importance of the human element beyond the technical input and individual decision but in various levels of organisations including corporate decision making. Several potential future activities were analysed: i) building trust as an organisational capability, ii) monitoring and assessing effectiveness of implementing human and organisational factors actions, and iii) analysing organisational capabilities for managing the unexpected. The group members also discussed the outcomes of the Learning Forum on safety culture, jointly held with the NEA Working Group on Safety Culture (WGSC) on 26 October 2020.
The human and organisational factors challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic was also a topic of lively discussion at the meeting. The group continued the discussion started in the NEA Workshop on Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The pandemic has had a major impact on the workforce around the world and the nuclear workforce has adapted to unprecedented conditions to ensure the safe and reliable generation of nuclear energy. As such, the group members exchanged information and insights on human and organisational considerations during COVID-19, industry response with regards to human performance capabilities, and leadership and decision making during the crisis.
The group thanked its outgoing chair Ms Suzanne Dolecki of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for serving as chair for six years and elected Mr Sean Peters of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as its chair for the 2021-2025 period.