From:	Pomije, Brian D. (LCDR)
Sent:	Friday, September 30, 2005 10:23 AM
To:	Burke, Gerald; Casey, Richard W. LCDR; Clark, Dorothy M. (CIV); Ely, Karen D. (CIV); Fairchild Gregory R LT; Fong, Raynard K   CAPT; Frampton, Scott W  CIV; Giel, Daniel T. (CIV); Hecht, Sheila C , LCDR; Hope, Lawanda P. HM1; Houston, Tony L. HM2; Johnson, Gabrielle M.; LaFontaine, Richard L CT; Loscocco, Michele F (CDR); Maher, John M CDR; Ozeroglu, Muhammed A  LT; Pomije, Brian D. (LCDR); Ruiz, Steven LCDR; Saylor, Tillman K (NNMC Contractor); Scott, John H., CIV.; Simays, Andrew E., CDR; Solanki, Haresh P; Swilley, Eugene A. (LT); Tu, Victor LT; Van Way, Rick L (LCDR); Younes, Georges  E LCDR; Beecham, Harry J. CAPT NAMRU2; 'Hanan El Mohammady'; HMC (org account) Redona; Hodge, Jenny L. MSGT; Ratiwayanto, Sutanti (NAMRU2 Jakarta); safety_namru2@attglobal.net; Tomon, John LT; Wilfredo Redona (kevinmkeitha@yahoo.com)
Cc:	Pomije, Brian D. (LCDR); Ely, Karen D. (CIV); Clark, Dorothy M. (CIV); Earles, Marvin R LCDR ; Glennon, Brendan K. CDR BUMED; Lino CDR Fragoso (E-mail) (Lino.Fragoso@navy.mil)
Subject:	NRMP - NRC Guidance for Establishing and Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work Environment
NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-18

To all RSOs and Medical and Research NRMP Permittees:

All NRC licensees, NRMP permittees and contractors are expected, although not required by regulation, to establish and maintain a safety conscious work environment (SCWE).  A SCWE is defined as an environment in which employees feel free to raise safety concerns, both to their management and to the NRC (or to NEHC or the NRSC in the case of Navy permittees), without fear of retaliation.  Such a work environment contributes to safe operation of NRC and Navy regulated facilities.

A Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) has been issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to provide supplementary guidance on fulfilling the above expectations.  In addition, the guidance provides a number of practices that may facilitate the efforts of licensees/permittees to develop and maintain a safety conscious work environment.  The guidance provided in this NRC-issued RIS is not a regulatory requirement; licensees and permittees should review the following information for practices that may best foster a safety conscious work environment, given the particular management structure and organizational style at their facility.  Furthermore, advances beyond the practices described in the RIS may be developed as industry practices mature and as licensees and permittees strive for excellence and creativity.

A copy of the RIS should be downloaded from the NRC’s website for use by each licensee or permittee at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/reg-issues/2005/ri200518.pdf.  No formal response to NEHC is required.

This supplemental guidance is provided in Attachments 1 and 2 of the RIS, and is outlined below:

PRACTICES THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A SAFETY CONSCIOUS WORK ENVIRONMENT

•	Effective Processes for Problem Identification and Resolution:

A.	Employees are Encouraged to Raise Safety Concerns
B.	Management is Promptly Notified of Concerns
C.	Concerns are Promptly Prioritized and Reviewed
D.	Concerns are Appropriately Resolved
E.	Timely Feedback is Provided to the Concerned Individual
F.	Appeal Process for Concerns
G.	Self-Assessments of Problem Identification and Resolution (PI&R) Process
H.	An Alternate Process to Line Management

•	Tools to Assess the Safety Conscious Work Environment:

A.	Lessons Learned Evaluations
B.	Benchmarking
C.	Performance Indicators
D.	Survey and Interview Tools
E.	Direct Observations
F.	Exit Interviews and Surveys
G.	360-Degree Appraisals

•	Improving Licensee Contractor Awareness of Safety Conscious Work Environment Principles

•	Involvement of Senior Management in Employment Actions

Very Respectfully,

LCDR Pomije

Brian D. Pomije, MS, DABR
Lieutenant Commander, Medical Service Corps, USN
Radiation Health Team Leader
Navy Environmental Health Center
620 John Paul Jones Circle (Suite 1100)
Portsmouth, VA 23708-2103

W: (757) 953-0766; DSN: 377-0766
Cell: (757) 651-2814
Fax: (757) 953-0685