(184c) Leadership Issues with Implementing a Human Performance Initiative in a Non-Reactor Nuclear Facility

Nuclear material processing and manufacturing activities within Department of Energy non-reactor nuclear facilities have a variety of accident scenarios and potential consequences. Depending on the nature of the consequence, controls are defined to prevent or mitigate the accident. When appropriate, these controls are ?engineered' into the system, with either active or passive hardware. However, many times, especially within a research environment, these controls have to be administrative. They depend on written procedures and training to ensure their effectiveness. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Plutonium Facility, these controls are a fundamental part of the facilities operating license. In order to ensure worker and public safety it is important that the organization have a goal of 'event-free' operation and the appropriate organizational values so that the controls are effective. This vision and values have to be defined and implemented. All individuals in the organization have to understand and be willing to participate. It is a leadership challenge to develop an appropriate implementation plan and then successfully deploy it. Key elements of the plan include communicating a compelling vision to all employees, gaining 'buy-in' from the first-level supervision, training all employees in the tools that enable an 'event-free' work environment and perhaps most importantly, ensuring a 'just environment' so that mistakes are not 'punished' but embraced as opportunities to learn and improve. Performance assessment with appropriate metrics and careful causal analysis are also key elements to ensure that latent organizational errors are identified and corrected. Improving human performance and providing a safe and secure work environment is important for the long-term success of nuclear material programs at Los Alamos. The problems and opportunities of the current Human Performance Initiative will be discussed along with assessment data and future plans.