Janice N. Tolk, Ph.D., P.E.
Richard S. Hartley, Ph.D., P.E.
This presentation was produced under contract number DE-AC04-00AL66620 with
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Background and Motivation
Objectives
Methodology and Progress
Expected Outcome
Summary
Next Steps
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Pantex Plant engages in high hazard operations
Explosives manufacture and testing
Nuclear weapon assembly and disassembly
Protective force operations
Pantex Plant began Highly Reliable Organization (HRO) journey in
2007
Heavy emphasis on organizational culture and leadership in HRO
training
All managers at the Plant trained ( 500)
EFCOG Group on Safety Culture
Pantex Plant took a lead role in 2008
Pantex Plant continues with new EFCOG group in 2010
Pantex committed to be a lead Plant in safety culture assessments
Safety culture is a foundation of HROs
Provides feedback as to effectiveness of HRO
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• HRO Practice
#1 Manage
the system,
not the parts
• HRO Practice
#4 Learn and
adapt as an
organization
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• HRO Practice
#2 Reduce
system
variability
Knowledge
of
Systems
Knowledge
of
Variation
Knowledge
of
Knowledge
Knowledge
of
Psychology
• HRO Practice
#3 Foster a
strong culture
of reliability
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Deeply held attitudes and
values of organization that
drive safety-related
behaviors
Similar to personality in an
individual
Slow to change and
difficult to measure
May vary across
organizational levels and
groups
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Section level
Sub-Cultures
Department
level
Division
level
Plant level
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Artifacts and
Behaviors
Becoming
an HRO
Espoused
Beliefs and
Values
Desire to be
an HRO
Underlying
Assumptions
Balance and alignment
between espoused values and
artifacts or behaviors indicates
employees buying-into
safety culture
Balance and alignment
between underlying
assumptions and espoused
values indicates leaders
walking-the-talk
Adapted from Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2004
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Define a safety culture model that fits the context of
Pantex Plant operations
Develop a Pantex-specific survey instrument to assess
safety culture
Pilot test to verify instrument design
Administer in Applied Technology Division to all
employees
Analyze data to identify current performance levels,
empirical relationships between culture dimensions, and
gaps across employee groups
Develop action plan with metrics
Offer for plant-wide deployment
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Determine by
observing work
Determine by
interviewing leadership
Artifacts and
Behaviors
Espoused
Beliefs and
Values
Misalignment hints at
deeper underlying
assumptions keeping
the organization from
attaining its desired
balance between
production and safety
Below the surface
Underlying assumptions must
be understood to properly
interpret artifacts and to create
change
Underlying
Assumptions
Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2004
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Developed class of culture lines of inquiry that
would provide feedback on Pantex HRO
Researched numerous survey instruments and
guides recommended by EFCOG
Determined outside experts in survey design and
analysis would achieve a better response and more
accurate results
Contracted with Texas Tech University to design
and deliver a survey and conduct follow up
interviews
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TTU performed literature review, observed multiple
operations, interviewed employees to inform
survey development
Interviewed bargaining unit employees
Interviewed exempt employees
Interviewed Applied Technology Safety Team
Will perform additional process observations,
document review, and focus groups to further
understand results and develop action plans for
improvement
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Applied Technology Division
Approximately 160 people in 4 departments
Operations
HE Engineering and Physics
HE Manufacturing
Materials and Analytical Services
Facility Management
Flat organization with four layers
Division Manager
Department Manager
Section Manager
Employees
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Common themes (Singer et al,. 2002, p. 113)
Commitment to safety articulated at the highest levels of the
organization and translated into shared values, beliefs, and
behavioral norms at all levels.
Necessary resources, incentives, and rewards provided by the
organization to allow this commitment to occur.
Safety is valued as the primary priority, even at the expense of
“production” or “efficiency”; personnel are rewarded for erring
on the side of safety even if they turn out to be wrong.
Communication between workers and across organizational levels
is frequent and candid.
Unsafe acts are rare despite high levels of production.
There is an openness about errors and problems, and they are
reported when they do occur.
Organizational learning is valued; the response to a problem
focuses on improving system.
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Management commitment
Managerial actions
Employee commitment
Employee involvement
Perceived risks
Required work pace
Beliefs about accident
causation factors (systems
thinking)
Job-induced stress
Safety communications
Quality of safety
procedures
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Safety training
Quality of physical work
arrangements
Effectiveness of safety
personnel
Feedback and learning
mechanisms
Safety procedure
adherence (behaviors)
Safety outcomes
Demographics
Space for additional
comments
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Developed based on
Literature review (SCART, IAEA guidelines for self
assessment, safety culture models from other
industries)
Process observations
Feedback from Applied Technology safety team,
scientists, and engineers
Cross-walked to Pantex HRO Practices
Provides feedback on effectiveness of Pantex HRO
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Inputs
Management
Commitment
to Safety
Process
Outcomes
Shared
Accountability
for Safety
Safety
Outcomes
Job Design for
Safety
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Learning
Process for
Safety
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Inputs
Management Commitment to Safety
Job Design for Safety
Sufficient resources for safety
Employee autonomy
Responsive leadership for safety
Quality of process standardization
Personalized leadership for safety
Job Motivation
Organizational respect for the individual
Safety training adequacy
Environmental turbulence
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Process
Shared Accountability for Safety
Learning Processes for Safety
Quality of safety procedures
Systems thinking
Employee ownership of safety
Openness toward mistakes
Outcomes
Overall Perceptions of Systems Safety
Overall effectiveness of safety
management system
Likelihood of accidents/events
Historical Data
Event/incident and near-miss rates
Effectiveness of Safety Personnel
Safety officer and union steward
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Approximately 170 questions related to safety
culture inputs and processes
Five questions related to safety outcomes
Four demographic questions
One free response field
Estimated time to complete = 20-40 minutes
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Group administration in Applied Technology
Division by Section and job function
Trained TTU personnel will administer to ensure
anonymity
Pilot testing
TTU graduate students
Applied Technology Safety Team
B&W Pantex senior staff
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Full scale data collection May-June
Analysis and action plan formation June –
September
Verify factor structure and psychometric properties
Assess within-group agreement and between-group
differences
Evaluate gaps across organizational groups and
relationships between variables
Meetings, focus groups, process observations, and/or
document review to understand findings and formulate
action plans
Deliver to entire Plant population next fiscal year
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Better understanding of the current safety
culture within the Applied Technology Division
and specific areas of strength and weakness
across groups
Identification of specific means of improving
safety culture within and across groups
Improved safety culture both within and across
groups (long-term)
Improved organizational reliability (long-term)
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B&W Pantex continues on leading edge of safety
improvements throughout DOE Integrated Management
BBS
HPI
CFA
HRO
Safety culture assessment and improvement feedback to
effectiveness of Pantex HRO
B&W Pantex approach to HRO and safety culture consistent
with DOE
HRO framework integrates HPI, BBS, VPP
HRO Practices fully integrated with ISM
Safety Culture assessment fully integrated with HRO Practices
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Share safety culture methodology lessons
learned with other sites and organizations
Establish the expectations for healthy safety
culture at Pantex
Conduct safety culture assessment across the
Plant
Periodically (every two years) re-evaluate safety
culture to determine progress
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