The political, economic and regulatory atmosphere facing the oil and gas industry is similar to that faced by the nuclear industry in the aftermath of the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Despite intense regulatory oversight and public skepticism, nuclear performance improved substantially over the past 30 years. The nuclear industry completely transformed itself so that U.S. nuclear plants are the most productive, reliable and safest they have ever been. Our experience and lessons learned through our research program suggest that there are four keys to the nuclear industry’s transformation that can be useful to oil and gas: industry leadership of change, self-regulation—and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), the evolution of safety culture and transforming the front-line supervisor.

Written by Mary Jo Rogers