IMPLEMENTATION OF A TEAM-APPROACH TO NUCLEAR CRITICALITY SAFETY - THE USE OF PARTICIPATORY METHODS IN MACROERGONOMICS

This paper describes the organization level changes that were required to improve the quality of a job aid intended to reduce human error associated with the handling of radioactive materials. What began as an exercise in microergonomics to design a job aid developed into a macroergonomic effort that identified the factors that influence the success of this participatory ergonomic project. Initially, the cost of creating one of these job aids with its associated basis documentation averaged $100,000, and many were surfacing as having quality problems. We discovered that not only was it important to get the customer, who served as the process expert, involved early in the development process, but we had to make changes and enhance various subprocesses within the development process to ensure better quality of the information supplied by the customer. Interrelated with these subprocesses were the development activities of the engineers that required better role and process definition. A key technique used involved simultaneously operating process improvement committees made up of process owners and a facilitator. Through the integration of ideas from several disciplines (e.g., systems analysis, process improvement techniques, total quality management, principled negotiation techniques, team building techniques, as well as basic ergonomic principles) we were able to empower ail affected personnel to participate in producing a quality product realizing a 50% savings in cost. Relevance to industry This paper describes a participatory approach to safety evaluation processes. Through a synergy of techniques borrowed from several disciplines ranging from macroergonomics to organizational development, a team-based process was created to ensure quality analysis of potential risk in the workplace caused by human and equipment error. Job aids that guard against the possibility of a criticality during processes involving fissile material have been developed.