Protected Activity and Employee Protection in Nuclear Construction

Learn best practices and lessons learned for safety in nuclear construction

One of the critical management priorities in the nuclear industry is ensuring that a healthy safety-conscious work environment exists all the time and that management fosters and nurtures this environment all the time. Management must, through its words and actions, continually focus on promoting and safeguarding protected activity so that employees remain confident that they can raise safety or technical concerns, without fear of present or future retaliation. Our awareness of these consequences and their repercussions needs to be expanded. The industry knowledge base on these topics is deep, but the general understanding of the specific circumstances that often apply at the nexus between protected activity and personnel decisions can be improved by increased communication on historical case studies and personal testimony.

My personal experience has taught me the value of pausing to engage the right support resources to properly vet personnel decisions before taking final action. In my case, taking time to pause and consult with available support resources would have given independent, expert staff an opportunity to challenge me by asking questions, reviewing records, and offering alternative recommendations. By not stopping to ask for their help, I made a fast decision that eventually resulted in my entering an October 2019 Confirmatory Order with the NRC’s Office of Enforcement. My goal in sharing this material is to encourage industry employers and leaders to learn from my mistakes and use their support networks to avoid the NRC enforcement action I faced.