ABSTRACT
One of the ongoing projects of the Research Center for Systems Safety (FSS) at the Berlin University of Technology has been the task of introducing a
methodical approach known as Safety through Organisational Learning (SOL) into the German nuclear safety system (GNSS) (Wilpert et al., 1997). Because every actor in this system can contribute to its intended outcome-the safe production of nuclear energy in Germany-an organisational learning system has to encompass all of them: individual employees in nuclear installations, their organisation (nuclear installations and power plants), utilities, external consultants, research institutes, manufacturers, and regulatory authorities. The project is based on the results and recommendations of previous work, in which researchers developed a comprehensive scheme for learning from experience by linking proper documentation of nuclear events (incidents, accidents, and near-incidents) to thorough analysis of the contribution made by all actors in the GNSS (Wilpert et al., 1994). Consequently, the implementation of such proposals calls for an intervention strategy that includes all participants of that system. This chapter deals with the theoretical, methodological, and practical problems that an intervention project such as introducing SOL in the nuclear industry can encounter in a set of organisations interlinked by economic competition, conflictual goals, regulated relationships, and complex patterns of exchange.
