Detection and interpretation of weak signals

Abstract: Managing safety at a nuclear power plant is about a complex system with demanding technology under time pressure where the cost of failure is exceptionally high. Swedish nuclear power plants have over the last few years introduced Pre-job Briefing and other so called Human Performance Tools to advert errors and strengthen control. By using the Systemic Resilience Model different views of safety are taken to understand the origin of the signals that leads to a Pre-job Briefing, and how the signal is interpreted, re-interpreted, and presented. The study took place at a Swedish nuclear power plant and included four days of observations and 20 interviewees. The thematic analysis shows a similarity between mentioned origins of Pre-job Briefings and the intended use of Pre-job Briefing. Characteristics of a High Reliability Organisation is shown in practice by a culture of that one will to have a Pre-job Briefing is enough, that sharp end workers is used as a valuable resource for safety and a systematic support to screen jobs over time without influencing non-job related factors. The signals acted upon matched well with the intended, and personnel get several opportunities to evaluate the signals together, striving for best possible circumstances. The Systemic Resilience Model was successfully applied together with a thematic analysis, which strengthens its validity as a holistic model that combines different views of safety in one coherent model. SyRes allowed to present additional themes, leaving the question at what stage SyRes is optimally implemented in a thematic analysis.