When adverse action meets protected activity: Protecting employees and employers while upholding safety culture

摘要

One of the critical management priorities in the nuclear industry is for management to foster and nurture a healthy safety-conscious work environment all of the time. Management must, through its words and actions, continually focus on promoting and safeguarding protected activities so that employees remain confident that they can raise safety or technical concerns without fear of present or future retaliation. In the context of nuclear power and the associated activities that are conducted under licenses granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, protected activities include, but are not limited to, an individual's refusing to engage in unlawful practices; an individual's providing information regarding potential or alleged violations or noncompliances associated with the licensed activity to either the NRC, an employer, or a licensee; asking the NRC to institute action against an employer; or testifying about any of these activities. Very specific employee protection provisions and requirements exist related to the rights afforded to individuals who engage in protected activity. They are designed to ensure that any alleged violations or noncompliances reported are given full consideration for their impact on the health and safety of the public and that individuals are neither retaliated against nor discriminated against for raising such issues.