Producing nuclear safety expertise in the field of human factors

Analysing interactions between regulators and regulated is a major research theme in risk management which is little explored, despite their assumed impact on the reliability of high-risk organisations. The question is particularly topical in the nuclear sector, which forms the basis of the research presented in this article. Several models of expertise and control activities taken from the scientific literature are presented before being compared with empirical data from research-intervention performed in conjunction with experts from the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, specialists in human and organisational factors. The case studies show an expertise activity relatively remote from models presented previously, which take little account of the peculiarities of the system of relationships between the regulator and the regulated and do not place sufficient emphasis on the methods of constructing the bodies of knowledge of the expert assessment. Once the operations and products from the assessment process have been clarified, types of effectiveness are defined. These are used to suggest possible improvements and understand better the effects of a neglected activity. The results can seemingly be transposed to other institutional configurations and industrial sectors.