Applying Safety Leadership and Systems Thinking to the Formal and Informal Controls Approach Used in Safety and Risk Management Within the French Nuclear Sector

This paper proposes a new approach to risk and safety management, underpinned by systems thinking, applying safety leadership principles to develop and overcome the limits of Management Control Systems (MCS) used in two nuclear facilities of the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA). These facilities execute similar activities by subcontracting, but have different managerial configurations. Using systemic thinking, 18 MCS common to both facilities were identified and an evolution of how one facility implements several of these MCS was observed; pinpointing dimensions of the Empowerment Leadership Model (EML) as a gearshift to this change. This research illustrates how CEA managers implement safety leadership to re-enforce risk prevention in their management of safety and of human and organizational factors. The implications of these findings are discussed by detailing how they may transform current and future MCS contractor-subcontractor practices, thereby responding to the continually evolving demands of the nuclear industry.