This section will describe a systematic approach to organisational design; it will also describe the reasons for and the means of monitoring and evaluating organisational effectiveness and identification of areas for improvement.

5.1.5 Systematic approach to organisational design

When designing any organisation the first requirement is to determine the purpose of the organisation:

• The business it will serve

• The functions that must be performed

• The tasks that must be performed

• The responsibilities that must be discharged

• The competencies that will be required

• The resources that will be needed.

Using the systematic approach to organisational design, it is also possible to determine the knowledge skills and attitudes required to fulfil those tasks.

In the preconstruction and construction phases the work will involve, for example:

• Design appraisal

• Financial appraisal

• Site selection

• Contract management

• Project management

• Quality assurance

• Legal and regulatory activities.

In the construction phase, industrial safety management is a very important and significant challenge. It is also necessary to have the capability of moni­toring and evaluating the standard of construction, the integrity of plant installation and, in the case of turnkey contracts, establishing a project management overview.

Commissioning activities require the plant installation to be physically checked for compliance with legal and safety requirements as well as sound engineering practices prior to the test programmes to demonstrate compli­ance with safety and design performance characteristics. The skill sets will not be dissimilar to those required for normal operation and maintenance. In many cases these activities are carried out directly, or independently verified by members of the operating organisation that will eventually run the plant.

The construction and commissioning phases will be the subject of regula­tory licence conditions in respect of staffing and competencies required (see Chapter 22 on commissioning).

The functions and activities performed in nuclear power plants are described in the WANO/INPO/IAEA Performance Objectives and Criteria (POs and Cs) used in peer reviews and OSART missions. Similar POs and Cs exist for the corporate functions associated with the management of NPPs.

For a nuclear power plant typical functions are:

• Organisation and administration

• Operations

• Maintenance

• Engineering

• Chemistry

• Radiological protection

• Emergency preparedness

• Training

• Fire protection.

In addition there are a number of what are called cross-functional areas which address such things as safety culture, industrial safety and work man­agement. NPP organisations also need functions such as organisational administration, human resources, quality assurance and finance that are not prescribed in the WANO/INPO and IAEA POs and Cs.

In addition to determining the functional groups required, the structure has to be determined. Spans of control and the number of direct reports for leaders and managers, aggregation of synergistic groups, and the levels in the organisation must be determined. In many cases the management structure and resources associated with the management of nuclear power installations will need to be formally approved by the regulatory authorities and will be the subject of regulatory oversight for the duration of the licence.

Changes to such organisations are usually treated in a similar way to design changes for plant and equipment, including the need for regulatory approval prior to any change in some cases.