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inappropriate, incomplete, overly complex or unsuitable.
ASN has repeatedly observed this situation for several
years now, thus calling into question the efficiency of the
documentary drafting and revision process in use at EDF,
in particular given that these inadequacies can make for
difficult working conditions for the personnel and thus
degrade performance, possibly leading to the occurrence of
significant events. The difficulties linked todocumentation
are increasingly spotlighted in the assessments carriedout
by EDF following significant events.
In addition, accessibility and the physical working
environment (light, heat, noise) is continuing to create
difficult working conditions. On several sites, ASN thus
observed inefficient public address and lighting systems
in the reactor building. ASNdid however note that certain
sites were making efforts in this field.
Staffmembers are also facedwith constraints relating to the
organisation of work, in particular during reactor outages,
such as inadequate preparation for certain activities,
scheduling changes and problems of joint contractor
work and coordination between those involved. These
constraints can lead to degraded working conditions.
Provisions concerning staff and organisations
in operational reactor modification activities
At the national level, EDF has developed the “Social,
Organisational and Human – SOH” approach, the aim
of which is to transform engineering practices at EDF,
to take greater account of people and organisations in
the changes made to the systems and in modifications
to hardware and organisations, as of the design stage.
ASN considers the philosophy of the SOH approach to
be pertinent and important in guaranteeing the security
of the facilities and the safety of the workers. However,
the efforts made by EDF to deploy the SOH approach
- in particular in all the engineering centres - must be
continued in order to achieve the intended effects.
Hardware and documentationmodifications are mainly
managed at the national level, so the sites do not always
have the ability to implement changes necessary to improve
the working environment when a difficulty is identified
locally. The improvements made by the sites therefore
generally consist in implementing mitigation measures
rather than actually solving the problem itself.
Skills management, training and qualifications
The skills management, qualification and training
organisation in place on the sites is on the whole
satisfactory and the management processes well
documented and coherent. Most of the sites have set
up local training committees involving the executive
level, the management and the workers. One of these
committees rapidly detects staff training requirements
and, with the help of the production engineering training
unit, creates short and specifically targeted training
programmes according to the identified needs.
Generally speaking, the training programmes are
implemented satisfactorily and the establishment of
«academies» for the different professional disciplines is
highlighted as a strong point for the training of newcomers
to the sites. However, the training proposed by some
sites is not always adapted rapidly enough. Moreover,
the staff do not always receive the scheduled training.
Inadequacies on certain sites are however still being found
by ASN during the inspections, concerning succession
planning (GPEC). In several NPPs, certain departments
had still not produced a skills map in 2015, even though
this is the GPEC tool that enables the site to obtain a
dynamic, forward-looking picture of the professional
skills available over a five-year period. However, EDF is
on the whole making major investments in hiring and
training, in order to anticipate the renewal of the skills
threatened by staff retirements. Failure to anticipate
large-scale retirements in certain disciplines is still being
observed on a number of sites, leading to insufficient
headcounts and potentially leading to difficulties in having
more experienced personnel available for mentoring
the young recruits.
Given the level of retirements expected in the coming
years and the considerable work to be accomplished by
EDF subsequent to the stress tests or for the periodic
safety reviews, ASN considers that EDF’s recruiting and
training efforts must be maintained.
4.1.3 Health and safety assessment, professional
relations and quality of employment in the NPPs
On the whole, there is satisfactory compliance with
daily and weekly rest periods, although EDF could
further improve its compliance with ASN’s requests
concerning working hours, in particular owing to the
absence of a system for counting the time worked by
the management.
Greater consideration is being given to certain
occupational risks, such as those linked to welding
fumes. In addition, EDF’s announced expansion of
the duties of the «zone managers” to all aspects of
conventional occupational safety is a positive point.
However, constant attention to health and safety risks is
required at all times. Moreover, the presence of asbestos
in equipment if often identified belatedly, meaning that
the organisation of the work then needs to be adapted
accordingly.
Progress is still required in the management of multiple
contractors working simultaneously (quality of prevention
plans in particular) and the use of subcontracting
(combatting the illegal loaning of labour). ASN also
asked EDF to improve the distribution of operating
experience and best practices between the sites.
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CHAPTER 12:
EDF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (NPPs)
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015