Executive summary
Date(s) of inspection:
September 2025
Aim of inspection
The aim of the inspection is to undertake a culture intervention at the site and deliver a view on the attributes of organisational culture at the site. This inspection will consider the nine organisational culture warning flags described in NS-INSP-GD-070, and outlined below:
- Complacency and overconfidence;
- Compromised decision-making;
- Ineffective regulator relations;
- Deviation from standards and behaviours;
- Impaired sharing and isolationism;
- Poorly managed change;
- Missed learning;
- Inconsistent leadership; and
- Lack of personal ownership and engagement.
This inspection is part of a themed culture inspection targeting Nuclear Restoration Services.
Subject(s) of inspection
- LC17 - Management systems - Rating: Not rated
- LC36 - Organisational capability - Rating: Not rated
Key findings, inspector's opinions and reasons for judgement made
This inspection sought to gain insight into the safety culture across Hunterston A Site (HNA). This was an unrated inspection focused on Leadership and Management for Safety. The inspection team comprised the nominated site inspector and two Leadership and Management for Safety Inspectors.
The inspection was well supported by site leadership; the opening and closing meetings were both attended by the Site Director, EHSS&Q Manager and other representatives of the site leadership team.
As part of the inspection agenda, HNA leadership presented relevant information and metrics, such as safety KPIs, which were benchmarked against other NRS sites, and an employee engagement report.
We carried out a series of interviews and focus groups with a sample of HNA employees and contract-supplied workers (CSW), as well as observing setting-to-work practices and holding discussions with some employees on plant.
We did not identify any significant areas of concern.
We were encouraged by accounts of, and plans for, improvements to aging staff-facilities and access routes across site. This suggested that, under recently appointed leadership, higher expectations had been set regarding asset care on site and increased attention, and resources had been directed towards site maintenance.
Employee perspectives on their workplace practices and environment suggested a renewed sense of organisational pride and an unwillingness to acquiesce to degradation of standards on site.
Some opportunities for learning and assurance were identified:
- Preventative approach: Exploring how leading SPIs (safety performance indicators) and OPEX (operational experience) might be utilized more effectively to make safety improvements proactively rather than what appeared to be a somewhat reactive approach wherein the findings of causal incident analyses act as the main trigger for making improvements to safety.
- Remaining vigilant: Retaining a focus on Conventional Safety hazards on site, especially those arising from construction and deconstruction activities, which were self-identified by employees as those hypothetically most likely (as compared to radiological safety) to result in a realized incident.
- Planning for the future: Scrutinizing the nuclear baseline and confirming that succession planning activities are being undertaken adequately to ensure that organizational capability is maintained, especially with respect to Duty Controller roles.
- Deepening understanding of the safety culture: NRS Corporate intend to adopt the NISCI (Nuclear Industry Safety Culture Inventory) tool for the analysis of safety culture across its sites. HNA should therefore ensure, ahead of time, that it is familiar with the tool and has the necessary capability and resources in place to implement it effectively.
The HNA leadership team were receptive to the feedback given and the identified opportunities for continued improvement at the close out of the inspection.
Conclusion
This is an unrated inspection and has not identified any shortfalls in legal compliance. The Observations provided offer advice/opportunities for HNA to consider in terms of continued learning and improvement. ONR will monitor as part of normal business.
The culture intervention has highlighted a number of areas where perceptions were positive, and aspects regarding culture are largely deemed satisfactory.