Human Aspects of NPP Operator Teamwork

The aim of this Chapter is to describe several important human aspects of NPP operator teams that have significant effect on safe and efficient operations. The first part of the Chapter provides an overview about the concept of high reliability organisations, safety culture, focusing on the question how to conceptualise and measure safety culture, presenting two distinct perspectives about background of human unsafe acts. Based on theoretical and empirical works made in high reliability organisations, the second part of the Chapter aims to detail the paradox of human factors, describing the main task, job and teamwork characteristics of first line personnel. The first line personnel in the NPP control room works in team. There have been several attempts to describe the characteristics of efficient teamwork, although little is known about the antecedents of efficient teamwork in high reliability organisation. Based on the InputProcess-Output model the empirical works aim to understand those inputs and processes that determine safe and efficient operator teamwork. After the theoretical considerations, the chapter synthesise different empirical works made in NPP control room analysing operator teamwork from different perspectives. Based on the theoretical works about specific task loads, the goal of Case study is to identify particular sources of task load, as inputs that influence operators well being. The revealed list of task load offers a practical guidance how to enhance operators’ well-being, safe and efficient work performance. Another important input of operator teamwork is the team members’ personality. Even though the NPP environment is strongly standardised, providing little room for individuals’ personality, team members’ characteristics influence how they behave and perform in this restricted environment. Based on Five Factor Model of personality the goal of Research 1 is to determine those personality traits that count for efficient teamwork, relating personality to team communication, to behavioural markers of team members, and performance. Operator team is a professional work team, requiring the interaction of team members representing different areas of speciality. It is important to understand how the operator team members having specific technical and professional knowledge are able to operate and manage jointly the plant system. Communication as a key process is used to share specific technical and human aspects of the plant parameters, operations, establishing the shared knowledge about the plant, environment, task and team members. This shared knowledge helps the operator team to develop joint strategies in order to manage the plant and to share different levels of task load during their operation. Research 2 aims to describe