Over time, organisations will experience changes to personnel and perform­ance; if these changes go undetected they could have an adverse effect on nuclear safety and plant performance. Similarly, circumstances change and organisational needs will change as a result. It is important therefore that the effectiveness of organisations is regularly reviewed to ensure they are compliant with nuclear site licence conditions and company arrangements described in QA programmes and to identify areas for improvement.

The nuclear industry has developed many programmes for the evaluation of organisational effectiveness, some of which are described below.

5.1.6 Quality assurance audits

Typically, quality assurance audits determine whether organisations are compliant with company arrangements. Chapter 21 addresses QA in detail.