Worker-Directed Training - Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

Training & Development, Oct, 2001 by Stacey Wagner

There's no room for error in nuclear safety training. The key to assurance was getting workers involved in their own training, among other actions.

There I was, standing at the edge, staring deeply into the still, blue water. The pool was calm and enticing, and I longed to dive in. But I resisted the urge. At the bottom lay a vault of the world's most radioactive material--highly enriched spent nuclear fuel from the Navy and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory's nuclear reactors. Though the vault is sealed, I didn't want to go through the scrubbing and decontamination required for any worker who falls into that water.

I had spent my morning at INEEL's advanced test reactor in the middle of the windy Idaho desert watching highly skilled operators respond to a simulated dangerous situation as part of their on-going training. They used a sophisticated simulator with real nuclear reactor data to ensure total fidelity. The U.S. Department of Energy demands that all workers at its facilities undergo extensive training to meet strict regulatory requirements. Getting this training tight is critical.

For some people, a bad day at the office means misplacing an important file. But for workers at INEEL, where nuclear reactor fuel from Three Mile Island is stored, a bad day can mean the destruction of millions of dollars worth of equipment, lasting damage to the environment, or death. It's high-risk, high-consequence work requiring a well-trained workforce dedicated to doing it right and safely. No one wants another Chernobyl.

INEEL, the foremost nuclear energy and environmental lab in the United States, will undoubtedly play a major part in President Bush's plans to enhance the U.S. energy infrastructure. But this story isn't about energy; it's about power--the power to improve business performance outcomes through a commitment to people and empowering leaders at all levels.

INEEL is a U.S. multiprogram laboratory supporting DOE's missions and business lines of environmental quality, energy resources, science, technology, and national security. Established in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station, INEEL was once the site of the world's largest concentration of nuclear reactors--52 in all. Only two of those reactors are still in use. INEEL, located in southeast Idaho, is spread over 890 square miles.

Management and operation of much of INEEL is the responsibility of private contractors working under the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office. Bechtel BWXT Idaho is INEEL's prime contractor and a unit of Bechtel Group, an engineering, construction, and project management firm with operations in 66 countries.

Some background

In 1998, while under contractors other than Bechtel BWXT, an INEEL worker died in an industrial accident. The ensuing investigation showed that workers were getting insufficient training to meet DOE standards and that the training was inconsistent across sites.

Part of the problem was the lack of one organization to coordinate all of the training functions and assets. In addition, construction subcontractors were providing their own training to their own employees. Due to the lack of centralization, training was being duplicated unnecessarily and each site provided the kind of training it wanted to deliver, in the way it wanted to deliver it. Workers were being pulled off the job or were unable to start their contracts until they received the necessary training. Some workers were being trained to operate equipment they no longer used. Worker certifications and qualifications were difficult to track, and if their certs and quals expired or were recertified too early, money was lost in the lapse or overlap. It was necessary to keep meticulous records, and updating the paper case files absorbed an enormous amount of time, energy, and money. To top it off, some of INEEL's best training assets focused on external issues, and management's relationship with the unions was poor.

In response, INEEL implemented a comprehensive corrective action plan to improve its safety record, with a goal of operational excellence. The plan included creating an operations training directorate to bring a singular focus to workforce training. To lead the directorate, the contractor hired retired Army LTC Fred Flynn, who had a strong background in operations, maintenance, training, and teambuilding. The new directorate was made up of three departments: the Center for Performance Improvement; Policy, Planning, and Records; and Site-Wide Training and Facility Support. Training became performance-oriented, directed toward proficiency, and integrated with Operations and Maintenance according to their schedule, not the training schedule. All enterprise-wide training processes, policies, and procedures were standardized, and collegial relationships with the unions were forged.

As the director of ASTD's Benchmarking Forum, I had the opportunity to spend three days at INEEL talking with the training staff, site directors, union representatives, workers, and the vice president of Bechtel. I also saw INEEL's e-learning initiatives, simulators, and training programs and visited several sites. I left with a story of transformational change comprising these key initiatives: