NRC: News Release - 2006-025 - NRC Releases Results of its 2005 Safety Culture and Climate Survey


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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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No. 06-025

February 16, 2006

NRC RELEASES RESULTS OF ITS 2005 SAFETY CULTURE AND CLIMATE SURVEY
Printable Version

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced the public release of its 2005 Safety Culture and Climate Survey. According to the survey results, the NRC improved in essentially all areas as compared to the 2002 survey, with the largest gains in communication, mission and strategic planning, employee engagement, recruiting, developing and retaining staff, and management leadership.

According to the survey – with an impressive 70 percent response rate against the 53 percent in 2002 – workload and stress continue to be challenges for employees. Better knowledge transfer from staff who are retiring and use of the Differing Professional Opinion program are also areas of opportunity for continued improvement.

The survey was conducted by the NRC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) with assistance from a contractor research firm to gain a better understanding of NRC’s safety culture and climate. In the experience of the contractor, it is rare that scores improve to this degree between surveys. It is the third survey conducted; previous surveys were conducted in 1998 and 2002. The OIG’s definition used for the survey is: Safety culture reflects an organization’s mission, characteristics and policies along with the beliefs and actions of its individual members, which establish and support nuclear safety and security as overriding priorities.

The 2005 report is now available on the NRC’s Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-gen/2006.

"The NRC’s Safety Culture and Climate Survey is a key assessment tool that is an important contributor to enhancing the welfare of our agency," said NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz. "The high level of participation underscores the importance both top management and NRC employees place in the survey. We’re very pleased at the gains we’ve seen."

The agency has taken a number of actions based on the results of the 2002 survey. These were in the areas of reinforcing the paramount importance of the agency’s safety mission, internal communications, handling of employee concerns, and management and leadership skills. NRC is committed to taking additional actions to address the results of the 2005 survey.

Each office and region within the NRC will receive their specific survey scores to analyze and develop future improvements for their organizations. In addition, a management team will determine whether there are any agency-wide areas that need additional attention.

The survey results come just a few months after the NRC was ranked third in best federal workplaces and the top-ranked regulatory agency in government. The award was based on a survey of 150,000 employees at 250 federal organizations by the Partnership for Public Service and American University’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation.

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