Improving the man-machine interface

This paper introduces the operational safety activities of the IAEA, an integrated system of four components promoting a worldwide feedback of operational experience. The Incident Reporting System, the IRS, facilitates an exchange of factual information about incidents and malfunctions. Although more active participation is desirable, the 150 reports received in 1987 bring the database to over 450 incidents from 24 countries, with new reports reviewed annually. In a complementary activity, the Agency makes available on request specialized investigative teams to conduct on-site in-depth analyses of operational experience and safety significant events to determine the root causes of operational incidents. The first visit of such a team, called ASSET, solely to assess safety significant events, was made to the Krsko nuclear power plant in Yugoslavia in November 1986. One of the more visible and expanding activities, the Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) programme, is in its fifth year. It provides an independent international perspective to nuclear power plant management and staff. Teams of up to 12 highly experienced experts, often supervisory personnel from similar units, travel to plant sites to perform a three-week in-depth review of local operating practices. The fourth component of the IAEA's operational safety activities was initiated in 1985 to develop operational safety performance indicators which track parameters such as unplanned reactor shutdowns, worker exposures and equipment malfunctions. They are not intended for quantitative findings or to rate plants. They can be used by the utility itself and in fact, their development was based principally on utility input. A focus of the paper is the findings from OSART missions. The findings relevant to the man-machine interface are not few; they are an integral part of the major concerns identified