Chester 2, Summary and Way Forward, Plenary Session Outputs, Summary Presentation and Conclusions

The workshop ended with a summary session. The Workshop Chair and Technical Reporter summarised the main findings, and provided the opportunity for further discussion and comment. There was a discussion on the way forward, including reporting, future meetings and other means of networking. Participants provided feedback on the workshop to assist with the planning and conduct of future events. The main conclusions arising from the workshop were as follows: - Licensees are generally positive about engaging with regulators to raise awareness about and support improvements in LMfS/SC. - More active and visible senior regulatory leadership increases the effectiveness of LMfS/SC interventions. Examples of practical actions that senior regulatory leaders can take include raising LMfS/SC matters at senior levels within licensee organisations and feeding back results of discussions to regulatory staff so that priorities and expectations are aligned. - A common 'language', and trust between regulators and licensees are fundamental factors for effective oversight of LMfS/SC. - The message from the previous workshop in 2007 on the importance of integrating LMfS/SC into normal regulatory business was reinforced. - A combination of integrated and targeted LMfS/SC interventions is considered to be effective to take account of the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. - In line with the conclusions from the previous workshop, influence is preferred to 'enforcement'. Where enforcement action is required, this is likely to be associated with tangible manifestations of LMfS/SC safety culture issues, such as license condition violations. - A fundamental principle of regulatory oversight of LMfS/SC is to encourage licensees to understand and take ownership of issues and solutions. Strategies include: Discussion of regulatory perceptions to test for shared regulator/licensee understanding, - Working together with licensees to develop guidance and understanding (e.g., through workshops/seminars). - Provide positive feedback and learn from success. - There was general agreement that early LMfS/SC interactions with the licensee are effective when initiated at senior levels, then cascaded through middle management levels. This is to reinforce the role of senior management in relation to LMfS/SC and to develop a shared understanding of expectations with key decision makers. - There was agreement that leadership training within the licensee is beneficial and that regulators have opportunities to encourage it. - It was agreed that a range of opportunities are available to regulators and licensees to discuss LMfS/SC including annual meetings; technical discussions and routine interactions. - The importance of maintaining interactions with good performers on LMfS/SC was emphasised. International experience shows that 'organisational drift' can occur in high performing organisations due to factors such as overconfidence and complacency. - There is a need for ongoing development of regulatory competence in LMfS/SC and specific topics such as root cause analysis, influencing and communication skills, the relationship between oversight of LMfS/SC and normal compliance inspection, and how to gather and analyse LMfS/SC information. - Use of external bodies to provide technical support can help the regulatory body to avoid insularity and facilitate the development of approaches. However, they should be used strategically to ensure effective knowledge transfer and retain intelligent customer capability. - It is important to start LMfS/SC interventions early in the life cycle and have an appreciation of the specific issues that apply during the different phases (e.g. design, construction). Knowledge management processes can be established to ensure that regulatory staff can learn from previous projects and experience. The importance of including contractors in the intervention strategy was acknowledged. - The regulatory body needs a structured process for analysing and interpreting LMfS/SC information, and for using this to inform regulatory interventions. This was identified as an area requiring further development. The importance of building a picture over time and taking a holistic view was emphasised. This requires use of multiple information sources and multidisciplinary teams. - It was agreed that licensee self-assessment of LMfS/SC is beneficial, and some countries have introduced regulatory requirements for this. There was broad consensus that the regulator should have access to the findings but that its focus may best be given to reviewing the quality of the licensee's process, the outputs, and the licensee's long-term follow-up actions