Posiva’s safety culture continuously showing clear improvement as the final disposal approaches
According to Posiva’s recent survey, safety culture has again come another step closer to the very good level in the Company. The development of the mean average of the comparable responses in the surveys conducted since 2016 has continued almost at the same pace as the progress of the construction of final disposal facility ONKALO® into a nuclear facility; 2016 - 74.7%, 2018 - 76.7%, 2020 - 84.0% and 2024 - 95.1%.
Posiva’s Safety Manager Kari Kaukonen is pleased with the development of the results.
- The development has been great. The “nuclear professional” attitude is gaining ground, work morale has improved. We have been developing in a good direction and the pace has been quite swift since 2018. Now we are already fairly good, Kaukonen says.
- One must not forget humility, however. A feeling of complacency and satisfaction in relation to safety culture may cause relapses. We must remember to continuously improve and the good level of safety culture must be earned again every day.
Many reasons for good development
There are many contributing factors to the positive development of safety culture at Posiva. The upcoming start of final disposal of spent nuclear fuel, as already said, has naturally sharpened the safety philosophy. Investments in training have also followed the same pace as the D day approaches. The safety procedures and access control practices to be followed during the operation of the final disposal facility have also already been enforced, well in time for the start of the final disposal operation.
The development of the corporate culture as a whole is a significant factor to improving safety culture. Instead of two separate things, they are interlinked. During the past year, Posiva has put in place several new practices related to personnel interaction, flow of information, inclusive participation, and engagement. Info sessions for the personnel are organised more frequently, project status reviews take place every other week, superviser forums once a month, and so on.
- With information flowing, we are present in the moment, the workplace mood is improved, and communication thresholds are low. This also improves the sense of community as well as safety culture and the awareness of it, Kaukonen explains.
Text: Pasi Tuohimaa