Home   News   Article

Survey reveals rise in Dounreay injuries





Dounreay nuclear plant.
Dounreay nuclear plant.

That was the finding of a survey which was carried out by consultants One Point Three Ltd after concerns were raised about safety performance at the plant.

The study found there was a “significant” rise in the number of unusual occurrence reporting or UNORs. The increase was seen between August 2012 and January and contrasted with the figure for the previous six-month period from February to July 2012.

The difference related to an increase in personal injury, although the majority appeared to be incidents that could have been discounted as “normal life events”, according to the survey.

Dounreay management yesterday stressed the report was undertaken at “a time of great change for the site” and pointed out there has been a drop in UNORs and personal injuries in the last six months.

The survey acknowledged much had been achieved at Dounreay over the first 12 months of the new management structure but recognised there were safety issues.

John Deighan, the Unite union lead safety representative at the site, accepted there had been “a spate of minor injuries” but said the situation has improved.

Mr Deighan described the injuries as “slips and trips and hand injuries” and stressed they were industrial and not related to nuclear matters.

“We want to see people going home from the site as they came into it and don’t want to see any injuries. When there is major change to the workforce it is important that we keep our eye on the ball all the time and keep focused on safety. We welcome the report and were involved and consulted on it,” he told the John O’Groat Journal yesterday.

Alan Scullion, assurance director at Dounreay, said: “The safety culture survey took place at a time of great change for the site when the contract changed to a closure contract. At the same time our safety reporting categories changed too. We began to include ‘lifestyle’ personal injuries in our statistics, as well as including safety statistics from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. The result of these changes increased our significant UNORs considerably.”

He emphasised that in the last six months there had been a drop in “significant” UNORs and personal injuries.

Mr Scullion said the current safety challenge focuses on hand injuries.

“Since we have been encouraging good behaviours in hand safety, we have noticed a big reduction in the number reported. Staff are actively encouraged to raise UNORs and the benefits of doing this are clear to see.

“Everyone here shares a common goal – to go home in as good health as when they arrived for work without causing harm to themselves or others. We work tirelessly on our safety culture to encourage the very best behaviour and nurture a mind-set where safety becomes second nature,” he added.

The survey found that when staff at Dounreay were asked in March 2012 what was done well on the site, 98 per cent of participants highlighted safety as a key strength.

When asked to quantify on a scale of 1-10 the safety at Dounreay, it was at 8.5. However, in February/March 2013 the same question resulted in a 6.7 rating.

“Given there was no evidence of material modifications to work practices that could be the underlying cause, the view of the consultants could only best explain this by changes in sentiment,” stated the report.

The consultants “struggled to build a case” that the deterioration over the year was “due to the influence of the new owners and management team”.

They also recognised the workforce was being asked to participate in the deconstruction and demise of its place of work.

“Engagement with the workforce had not developed sufficiently well over the first 12 months and suggests that the context in which this has happened is more to do with focus, priority and drive to get the job done rather than a question of capability.”

The report said there was an opportunity to improve engagement with the workforce. That has been done by staff talks by the managing director, workshops and the re-instatement of a weekly team briefing.

“The leadership team recognises this is just the start of a process and needs to continue and improve with a structured programme,” added the consultants.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.


This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More