Safety Culture Organization of Agreement States Annual Meeting August 2012 Thomas A. Conley CHP

Disclaimers I am not here representing the State of Kansas The companies,persons, incidents and situations portrayed in this presentation are fictional. Any resemblance to actual companies, persons, incidents, and situations is coincidental and accidental. There will be a test.

Consider Two Companies “X” and “Y” Both in the business of manufacturing the same radioactive product Start up at the same time Produce the same amount of product Properly licensed

Company X Handles curie quantities of unsealed radioactive material Has a large corporate support infrastructure that keeps detailed tabs on all operations Has a 300 page “Radiation Safety Manual”  Detailed training plan  Procedures Spares no expense to install engineering controls  Glove boxes  Robotic handling tools  Shielded transfer lines Initial inspection – no issues, inspectors impressed

Company Y Handles curie quantities of unsealed radioactive material Run by locals with no corporate support structure Has a 5 page “Radiation Safety Manual”  Training plan is “everyone will be trained”  Minimal procedures Bought a boat load of old lead bricks and blankets  Stacks bricks in front of equipment  Owns a pair of tongs  Throws blankets on transfer lines Initial inspection – No issues, inspectors are concerned

Who has the Best Safety Culture Company “X”? Company “Y”?

Six Months Later Company “X” has experienced  Equipment malfunctions  Applied work arounds to keep production up  Had an 80 rem extremity over exposure Company “Y” has experienced  Equipment malfunctions  Stopped work to adjust procedures  Had higher doses but no over exposure

Now Who has the Best Safety Culture Company “X” has a perceived Safety Culture  Works when all goes well Company “Y” has a real Safety Culture  Is seen when things go wrong

What is Safety Culture? It is what you do when no one is watching