CNSC publishes requirements and guidance for fostering and assessing safety culture

For immediate release

April 18, 2018

Following a period of public consultation from September 26, 2016 to April 6, 2017, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has published a new regulatory document REGDOC-2.1.2, Safety Culture.

This new regulatory document sets out requirements and guidance for fostering and assessing safety culture. The CNSC defines safety culture as the characteristics of the work environment, such as the values, rules, and common understandings that influence workers’ perceptions and attitudes about the importance that the organization places on safety.

Over the past few decades, experience in the international nuclear industry and other industries has demonstrated the importance of a healthy safety culture in maintaining the safety of workers, the public, and the environment. An organization that actively fosters a healthy safety culture can have a powerful influence on employee attitudes and behaviours, and consequently on individual and corporate safety performance.

The CNSC regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment; to implement Canada’s international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and to disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public.