Methods for Assessing and Strengthening the Safety Culture of the Regulatory Body

         It is essential that organisations in the nuclear community maintain a healthy safety culture to achieve common goals regarding the safe operation of nuclear facilities and the safe use of nuclear material. Regulatory bodies are no exception, as a key element of the interconnected system which includes licensees, research institutions, technical support organisations, as well as governmental organisations and other stakeholders. By their very nature, regulatory bodies deeply influence the safety culture and the safety of the organisations they regulate and oversee. Based on their regulatory strategy, the way they carry out their daily oversight work, the type of relationship they cultivate with licensees, the values they convey and the importance they give to safety, regulatory bodies profoundly impact the licensees’ safety culture, their sense of responsibility for safety and, by extension, the safety of their installations.         Regulatory bodies apply a number of methods, practices and approaches to foster and sustain a healthy safety culture. This report provides an overview and practical examples to build the regulatory bodies’ safety culture competence and to perform self-reflection and self-assessment with regard to their own safety culture and its impact on the safety culture of the organisations they oversee. Drawing directly from the experiences from OECD Nuclear Energy Agency member countries, the report discusses effective methods to disseminate safety culture throughout the regulatory body, to build competence in safety culture, and to develop self-reflection and self-assessment activities. Finally, the report presents ten conclusions based on lessons learnt and best practices to inspire managers to continuously develop their regulatory body’s safety culture.      