Abstract
This study is part of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission research element on organizational factors in plant safety under the Human Factors research program. The study investigated the chemical industry, to find leading management or organizational tools which could be useful for the NRC. After collecting information from a variety of information sources, we concentrated our study on two types of indicators currently in use: the first is audit- or review-based, and concentrates on programmatic factors; the second, based on frequent behavioral observations, concentrates on the management of individual worker behaviors.
We analyzed data on the relationships between the leading indicators and direct indicators such as accident and injury rates in three case studies, to determine whether sufficient evidence of validity and utility exists to justify consideration of these indicators as public safety indicators. On the basis of statistical associations and other evidence, we concluded that the two indicator types have promise for use as plant safety performance indicators, and that further development and testing of the candidate indicators should be performed.
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