The Human Performance Gap Focus Area assessments outline items impacting the fleet’s key human performance indicators as well as examining current station processes that are used to improve human performance and behaviors.

USA team members developed an Excellence Standard using industry practices. The GAP Focus Area team developed an assessment tool that was then used to assess excellence at each USA site. The initial assessments, conducted in the first quarter of 2017, focused on ensuring industry best practice techniques are in place to focus station workers on improving behaviors and human performance. Additional on site reviews looked at station practices for monitoring human performance and behaviors and follow up reviews were conducted during refueling and maintenance outages.

During the September USA Board of Directors meeting, members were briefed on progress being made by the fleet. The fleet reduced human error related events by 36 percent while improving from fourth quartile to third quartile industry performance. The number of station clock reset events decreased by 33 percent while improving from fourth quartile to third quartile. Tier II consequential errors in Operations, Maintenance and Engineering reduced by 43 percent while improving from third quartile to second quartile.

Each station will achieve sustained improvement by remaining focused on behaviors and oversight. Improvement requires a focus on high quality standards, alignment with standards by employees and leaders, ensure standards are used in the workplace and engage employees in solutions when gaps are identified.

Human error related events represent challenges to worker safety as well as nuclear safety. Reducing the number of events reduces the number of “shots on goal” for stations. With our efforts to reduce the number of human error related events, we reduce risk and improve reliability across the fleet.