AIKEN, S.C. – EM’s Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor revamped its conduct of operations training with interactive modules to refocus the workforce on the importance of performing work in a deliberate, disciplined and structured manner. ...
December 15, 2016
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An SRR employee follows a procedure during a recent scope for Salt Waste Processing Integration. A key part of conduct of operations is procedure compliance.
AIKEN, S.C. – EM’s Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor revamped its conduct of operations training with interactive modules to refocus the workforce on the importance of performing work in a deliberate, disciplined and structured manner.
Conduct of operations is more about the "why" rather than the "what," Savannah River Remediation (SRR) Operations Director James Harris said.
“Conduct of operations is a belief system,” Harris said. “Everyone knows what conduct of operations is and that we’re supposed to have it, but why? SRR is evaluating our current conduct of operations strategies, and we are now looking at ways to make the program even more effective.”
Conduct of operations is also important from the Department's perspective, DOE Waste Disposition Acting Assistant Manager Jean Ridley said.
“The Department of Energy is committed to the safe disposition of the legacy liquid waste at the Savannah River Site,” Ridley said. “A key part of that is worker safety. We appreciate SRR’s diligence in ensuring that safety is at the forefront of operations.”
Tom Foster, SRR president and project manager, said disciplined operations and conduct of operations are one and the same.
“At SRR, disciplined operations is one of our core values, and I couldn't be more pleased with this interactive conduct of operations training,” Foster said. “So why are we so serious about conduct of operations? Conduct of operations provides the structure and methods by which we keep nuclear safety as our overriding priority.”
Each training module is interactive, with a game show format or polling feature to keep participants engaged.
“The participants really enjoy the interactive aspects of this new training,” Harris said. “Our line managers, particularly second and third lines, say they value continued professional training. Senior management is committed to providing every opportunity for our managers to continuously develop their knowledge and leadership skills.”
The training include case studies of situations showing how good conduct of operations leads to excellent results, but also those where the opposite happened.
“When a facility lacks formality and discipline, events happen,” Harris said. “At SRR, we are not going to let ourselves get to that point. That’s what this conduct of operations revitalization training is all about.”