Teemu Reiman

Characteristics of organizational culture at the maintenance units of two Nordic nuclear power plants

This study aims to characterize and assess the organizational cultures of two Nordic nuclear power plant (NPP) maintenance units. The research consisted of NPP maintenance units of Forsmark (Sweden) and Olkiluoto (Finland). The study strives to anticipate the consequences of the current practices, conceptions and assumptions in the given organizations to their ability and willingness to fulfill the organizational core task. The methods utilized in the study were organizational culture and core task questionnaire (CULTURE02) and semi-structured interviews. Similarities and differences in the perceived organizational values, conceptions of ones own work, conceptions of the demands of the maintenance task and organizational practices at the maintenance units were explored. The maintenance units at Olkiluoto and Forsmark had quite different organizational cultures, but they also shared a set of dimensions such as strong personal emphasis placed on safety. The authors propose that different cultural features and organizational practices may be equally effective from the perspective of the core task. The results show that due to the complexity of the maintenance work, the case organizations tend to emphasize some aspects of the maintenance task more than others. The reliability consequences of these cultural solutions to the maintenance task are discussed. The authors propose that the organizational core task, in this case the maintenance task, should be clear for all the workers. The results give implications that this has been a challenge recently as the maintenance work has been changing. The concepts of organizational core task and organizational culture could be useful as management tools to anticipate the consequences of organizational changes.

Human and organizational biases affecting the management of safety

Management of safety is always based on underlying models or theories of organization, human behavior and system safety. The aim of the article is to review and describe a set of potential biases in these models and theories. We will outline human and organizational biases that have an effect on the management of safety in four thematic areas: beliefs about human behavior, beliefs about organizations, beliefs about information and safety models. At worst, biases in these areas can lead to an approach where people are treated as isolated and independent actors who make (bad) decisions in a social vacuum and who pose a threat to safety. Such an approach aims at building barriers and constraints to human behavior and neglects the measures aiming at providing prerequisites and organizational conditions for people to work effectively. This reductionist view of safety management can also lead to too drastic a strong separation of so-called human factors from technical issues, undermining the holistic view of system safety. Human behavior needs to be understood in the context of people attempting (together) to make sense of themselves and their environment, and act based on perpetually incomplete information while relying on social conventions, affordances provided by the environment and the available cognitive heuristics. In addition, a move toward a positive view of the human contribution to safety is needed. Systemic safety management requires an increased understanding of various normal organizational phenomena – in this paper discussed from the point of view of biases – coupled with a systemic safety culture that encourages and endorses a holistic view of the workings and challenges of the socio-technical system in question.

Core task modelling in cultural assessment: a case study in nuclear power plant maintenance

This article aims at illustrating the use of core task modelling on a system level and attempts to show its relevance to cultural assessment. The methodology that was used in a case study consists of an iterative process of core task modelling, organisational culture research and organisational assessment. The case study was conducted in a nuclear power plants (NPPs) maintenance department. The maintenance task, its goals, critical demands and the demands for the working practices were conceptualised by core task analysis. The organisational culture of the maintenance department was explored with interviews, a survey and workgroups. The results show three critical demands and three instrumental demands to be controlled on all levels in the organisation. The maintenance culture must support the activity of balancing between these distinct requirements. The core task model was used in assessing the characteristics of the maintenance culture. This was done through analysing the unity of the personnels conceptions concerning the organisation, its tasks, goals and values. The relevance of this approach to organisational development is discussed.

Multilayered approach to patient safety culture

Background The concept of patient safety culture (PSC) has increasingly been used in the development of patient safety. However, no theoretical framework on the nature of the underlying phenomenon has been created. Multiple characterisations of the key dimensions of PSC exist, but they yield little theory on patient safety culture or its relation to patient safety. The authors propose a dynamic and multilayered construct of patient safety culture and illustrate the critical dimensions at each layer. Conclusions PSC can be defined as the willingness and ability of an organisation to understand safety as well as the willingness and ability to act on safety. Patient safety requires controlling and steering the organisation, and being mindful of the social processes and psychological phenomena.

System modeling with the DISC framework: evidence from safety-critical domains

The objective of this paper is to illustrate the development and application of the Design for Integrated Safety Culture (DISC) framework for system modeling by evaluating organizational potential for safety in nuclear and healthcare domains. The DISC framework includes criteria for good safety culture and a description of functions that the organization needs to implement in order to orient the organization toward the criteria. Three case studies will be used to illustrate the utilization of the DISC framework in practice.

Competing values, tensions and trade-offs in management of nuclear power plants

The specific goal of the study is to look how tensions, competing values and trade-offs manifest in the management of nuclear power plants. Second goal is to inspect how existing frameworks, such as Competing Values Framework, can be used to model the tensions. Empirical data consists of thirty interviews that were conducted as part of a NKS study on safety culture in the Nordic nuclear branch. Eight trade-offs are identified based on a grounded theory based analysis of the interview data. The competing values and potential tensions involved in the trade-offs are discussed.

Applying different quality and safety models in healthcare improvement work: Boundary objects and system thinking

A number of theoretical models can be applied to help guide quality improvement and patient safety interventions in hospitals. However there are often significant differences between such models and, therefore, their potential contribution when applied in diverse contexts. The aim of this paper is to explore how two such models have been applied by hospitals to improve quality and safety. We describe and compare the models: (1) The Organizing for Quality (OQ) model, and (2) the Design for Integrated Safety Culture (DISC) model. We analyze the theoretical foundations of the models, and show, by using a retrospective comparative case study approach from two European hospitals, how these models have been applied to improve quality and safety. The analysis shows that differences appear in the theoretical foundations, practical approaches and applications of the models. Nevertheless, the case studies indicate that the choice between the OQ and DISC models is of less importance for guiding the practice of quality and safety improvement work, as they are both systemic and share some important characteristics. The main contribution of the models lay in their role as boundary objects directing attention towards organizational and systems thinking, culture, and collaboration.

Maintenance core task and maintenance culture

The aim of the study reported here was to develop a methodology for modeling the maintenance core task and assessing the maintenance culture. The case study was carried out at the Loviisa nuclear power plant in Finland. Maintenance task, its goals, critical demands and the demands for the actual organisation of the maintenance were conceptualised by core task analysis. The organisational culture of maintenance department was inspected by interviews, observation, survey and workgroups. The core task model was used to assess the safety and efficiency of the maintenance culture. Results show three critical demands and three instrumental demands to be controlled in all levels of the organisation. The culture must support this. Implications of these demands for development of organisational culture are discussed.

Assessing Challenges to Nuclear Power Plant Management in Five European Countries: Methods, Results and Lessons Learned

The main purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the most important challenges to nuclear power plant management in Europe. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyse the data. The analysis saw two challenges emerging as the most important: human resource management and issues within the operating environment of the utilities.

Measuring conceptual knowledge among NPP maintenance personnel -A tool for knowledge management

The paper presents key findings of a longitudinal study on development of knowledge among new maintenance workers at a Nordic nuclear power plant. A measure of conceptual knowledge was developed in cooperation with the technical experts and trainers at the case plant. The power plant recruited ten maintenance workers during a two years period. The conceptual knowledge of the ten new workers was measured three times during their first two years of tenure. Also reference group of experienced maintenance workers completed the conceptual knowledge questionnaire. In the paper the construction of the measure is presented and the results of the measurements are discussed in light of knowledge management at the nuclear industry. The results show that the conceptual knowledge of the newcomers increased after training, but difference in the scores between the individuals was very high both before and after the training.