Public Hearing on Safety Culture and Board Recommendation 2011-1 (2nd)

This public meeting and hearing is the second in a series of three hearings the Board will convene to address safety culture at Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities and the Board’s Recommendation 2011–1, Safety Culture at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. The third hearing will be announced by a separate notice at a future date. In the first hearing, convened on May 28, 2014, the Board received testimony from recognized industry and federal government experts in the field of safety culture, with a focus on the tools used for assessing safety culture, approaches for interpreting the assessment results, and how results can be used for improving safety culture. This second hearing will also address important safety culture topics and will occur in two sessions. In the morning session, the Board will hear from a panel of current and former United States Navy officers concerning the Navy’s approach to ensuring the safety of its nuclear fleet operations. The two panelists, the current Commander of the Naval Safety Center and the former Chief Engineer and Deputy Commander for Naval Systems Engineering, will focus discussions on Navy safety policies and procedures. They will also provide testimony on the tools, metrics and practices used to sustain a strong safety culture, and safety culture lessons learned. In the afternoon session, the Board will receive testimony from a panel of government and academic subject matter experts concerning the role of organizational leaders in establishing and maintaining an effective, positive safety culture. The afternoon panel will be comprised of a Member of the United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, and experts from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Southern California.