Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Nuclear
LLC reports
This report is issued as part of the Health and Safety Executive's commitment to make information about inspection and regulatory activities relating to the above site available to the public. It is for distribution to members of the GE Healthcare Ltd Maynard Centre Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at the site. These reports are distributed quarterly and are available also from the Internet at www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/llc/index.htm. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend LLC meetings and will be happy to respond to any questions raised there by members. Any other person wishing to enquire about matters covered by this report may contact HSE’s Nuclear Directorate on 0151-951-3484/3290.
NII inspections were made on 27–28 April and 6–7 June 2006. (Inspections are also made at GE Healthcare Ltd’s nuclear licensed sites at Amersham (the Grove Centre) and Harwell. Where these are relevant to the Maynard Centre they are included below. For instance, the sites have many arrangements in common for compliance with the conditions attached to their site licences.)
Inspections are undertaken for the purpose of monitoring compliance with (i) the conditions attached by HSE to the nuclear site licences, and (ii) other relevant provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, including the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999. In this period routine inspections included:
Issues arising from these and previous inspections are being pursued.
Organisational change: As part of its arrangements for compliance with Licence Condition 36, on control of organisational change, GE Healthcare Ltd has produced a Baseline, which is a justification of the current organisational structure, resources and staff competencies available to carry out those functions that may affect safety. In accordance with its most recent commitment to NII, and after approval by its board, the licensee submitted the final version in June.
The licensee’s executive chairman having resigned in April, NII was consulted on proposals for consequent safety-related organisational changes, which included a new board director responsible for safety assurance. NII subsequently agreed to these changes—see below.
An inspection was made of the laboratory building RP2, in which a major project on radiation protection has been carried through. The project has allowed the licensee to take advantage of the fact that the use of radioactive materials in the building has ceased. Thus, for instance, former controls on access, and requirements for monitoring have been relaxed to suit the new circumstances.
Safety Representatives: The site inspector held a periodic meeting with Safety Representatives, to support their function of representing employees and receiving information on matters affecting their health, safety, and welfare at work.
Local Liaison Committee: The site inspector attended the 6-monthly meeting of the Local Liaison Committee.
No statutorily reportable incidents were notified to NII in this quarter.
As part of its regulation under the nuclear site licence NII issues formal regulatory documents, which include Consents, Approvals, Directions, and Licence Instruments 1. In this quarter NII issued Licence Instrument No 504, agreeing to safety-related changes to the organisational structure of the licensee consequent on the departure the executive chairman.
No other issues have arisen that have required formal regulatory action.
1. Licence Instruments are issued: to acknowledge receipt of specified documents, eg proposals for a new or modified plant; to stipulate whether the Inspectorate intends to examine these documents; or to agree to the start of a particular phase of construction, commissioning, modification, or decommissioning.