EA (Environment Agency) is responsible for the enforcement of laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment. This includes authorizing and controlling radioactive discharges and radioactive waste disposals to air, water and land.
Other regulatory bodies include EPA (Environment Protection Agency), NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations).
Many local businesses are heavily reliant on BNFL at Sellafield. As direct suppliers, eg Romar for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and service providers, eg NRL, Roevin, etc for agency staff. These suppliers and service providers, in turn, have their own suppliers and/or service providers and so the success of BNFL has a knock-on effect on the whole of the County.
The local community is heavily reliant on BNFL at Sellafield. As the biggest employer in the County, employing around 6,000 employees, agency staff, contractors and sub-contractors, BNFL has a responsibility to ensure future prosperity. The Company also has a responsibility for the safety of the local community and this is expressed through its commitment to training and developing its employees (see Further Development and Training).
It is important to the business to gain and retain both local and national Public confidence. Through exhibitions, LLCs (Local Liaison Committees), the Media, Regulatory bodies, Employees and Customers, the business encourages public debate through up-to-date information communicated through open dialogue.
Job roles and Contracts of Employment within the business
*See organisation charts (1), linked in pink*
Band 1 – Company Executive and Band 2 – Business Leaders: these cover the Executive and Business Leaders who, as personal contract holders, remain outside the bargaining arrangements which apply to the remaining three Bands.
Band 3 – Managers and Functional Specialists
Band 4 – Operations Support, Team Leaders, Business Support and Functional and Operational Specialists
Band 5 – Operations Support, Business and Technical Support
Within these Bands are specific, role or job holders, three of them are:
Band 3 – Manufacturing Manager – At this level, the individual in this role is responsible for the overall running of a particular plant area within a department/function. He/she will have a number (approx 6) Team Leaders and their teams, reporting directly to him/her with progress, developments and day to day issues, including staff issues. The Manufacturing Manager will usually have an end product from his/her plant area, eg drums containing waste; a chemical that has gone through several clean up processes; etc. This individual will report directly to the Senior Manager for the department/function.
The Manufacturing Manager will have many years experience of ‘on-plant’ operations, managing teams and will have developed his managerial skills through training and the Company appraisal scheme. This role also requires inter-personal and communication skills to deal with different levels of staff, from shop floor to senior managers and external regulators. As a ‘key role’ holder, the candidate must be employed directly by BNFL and will be chosen through a competency based interview whereby he/she is tested against a series of competencies.
The annual salary at this level is £00,000 depending on the length of time and experience in the role. Benefits include the Company bonus scheme, pension scheme and staff retirement scheme.
Band 4 – Area Training Co-ordinator – An individual working in this role, as a service provider, is responsible for ensuring each individual, within a department or function (the Customer), is fully compliant with legislative training (and recording of this training) for their job, roles and any tasks they carry out that have an impact on safety including nuclear safety. They must report on progress to the department or function they are looking after and also to their own individual line management. This role also requires some inter-personal and communication skills when liaising and advising the Customer. Not being a ‘key role’ the candidate may or may not be a direct employee of BNFL (chosen through the same process as Manufacturing Manager above) or by an agency worker. The agency worker will be employed through qualifications and experience either through working within the function group or showing similar competencies through other roles. An agency worker does is not required to be tested for competencies.
The Contract of Employment for an Area Training Co-ordinator includes:
- Band and Broad Role for the post – 4/016
- Contracted hours of work – 37 (full time)
- Meal break allowance – 45 minutes
- Sick leave arrangements – 261 days paid sick leave in any 4 year rolling period. The employee must contact his immediate line management if he/she is unable to attend work due to sickness or injury. A self-certification form must be completed by the employee if the sickness lasts less than 7 calendar days. If the period exceeds this period, the employee should obtain a certificate from his/her doctor or hospital.
- Annual salary - £24,000 start - £26,000 full contributor (gross), pro rata for part time workers
- Annual Leave allowance - 25.5 days (plus public holidays, accrued days - 13)
- Pension scheme – all employees are eligible to become members of the UKAEA Combined Pension Scheme. The current rate for contributions is 5% of the employees earnings
- Other benefits include the Company pension scheme and retirement scheme
Band 5 – Administrator – This role can vary widely in job content, depending on location and department/function the individual is working for. The individual is a ‘doer’ and is responsible for providing full support to role holders in Band 4 and above. Duties can include secretarial; typing; filing; communications via email, telephone, letters, memos, etc; database and spreadsheet work; all on behalf and as instructed by the individual(s) they are assigned to. Not being a ‘key role’ the candidate may or may not be a direct employee of BNFL (chosen through the same process as Manufacturing Manager above) or by an agency worker. The agency worker will be employed through qualifications and experience either through working within the function group or showing similar competencies through other roles. An agency worker does is not required to be tested for competencies.
The employee is also provided with an Employee Handbook with other terms and conditions that may or may not be relevant to the individual, eg, Statement on HR Policy , Employee Movement (between sites), Shifts, Shift Supplements, Incentives, Training and Development, Annualised Hours, Flexible Attendance, Credit Time, Lateness, Part-time working, Performance Management arrangements, Pay Progression, Post Filling/Promotions & Substitutions, Special Leave, Termination of Employment, Disciplinary and Redundancy procedures, Travel & Subsistence, Security, etc.
Employer/Employee rights and responsibilities, including how the business deals with disputes
All employers, including British Nuclear Group, have a duty and responsibility, by law, to protect their employees through The Employment Rights Act 1996 – this covers a wide range of employment issues.
- Protection against discrimination through
Sex Discrimination Act
Race Relations Act
Disability Discrimination Act
Equal Pay Act
British Nuclear Group policy is to employ people from all backgrounds, race, sex and those with disabilities. Offering opportunities through the recruitment and appraisal scheme to ensure the right person is in the right job at the right time for their ability. The broad role and banding structure ensures that the employee is paid on an equal basis.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
COSHH (Control of Substances hazardous to health)
Screen Equipment Regulations
British Nuclear Group has implemented extensive training and assessment to ensure the employee is carrying out their job safely
Equal Pay Act
National Minimum Wage Act 1998
Working Time Directive
Parental Leave Directive (incorporated in the Employee Relations Act 1999)
Part Time Workers Directive
Temporary Workers Directive
British Nuclear Group has adopted these acts through introduction of paternity leave (for mothers and partners), offering negotiable part time working hours and providing a negotiable ‘career break’ opportunity for all employees.
British Nuclear Group have adopted the above act by creating a central record point where all electronic and paper systems that hold personal information about their employees, must be registered.
All employee, including those employed by British Nuclear Group have a responsibility to their employer by:
- Being available , willing and capable to work
- Taking reasonable care and using their skills when doing the job
- Taking proper care of their employer’spremises and equipment
- Obeying reasonable orders
- Playing fair with the employer
British Nuclear Group hold regular meetings with the local convening authorities to agree the way forward for introducing new legislation, disciplinary action, pay strategies.
An employee also has the option to join the local convening authority or union. Depending on the employee’s role will depend on the union he/she will join, eg PCS for administration and non-specialist staff.
Any disagreements can be resolved amicably between staff, management and the Human Resources Department. Sometimes, however, when an agreement is not reached, an employee may contact his/her local union representative for advice and support. Eg an employee may feel that he/she has been unfairly treated by his/her line management by blaming them for an incident or by putting too much responsibility on them for their current job/role. The union can look into the Company policies, rules and also the employee’s legal rights, on their behalf, and mediate to resolve the issue. This can also help the employer understand its limitations and employee rights.
The union will also be actively involved in the negotiations for pay increases. They will negotiate, with management, a fair deal for its members (taking into account current trends, percentage rates, economics, etc), on their behalf and advise the members whether they should accept the offer(s). This system can help to avoid strike action where negotiations may breakdown quicker if a mediator/negotiator didn’t intervene.
Employee Recruitment
Within a new function group/department, the Senior Manager for the group is responsible for the staffing resources throughout. He/she will be responsible for setting up the structure of the group from Senior Manager, Line Managers, Team Leaders and Operators/Administrators. The Senior Manager may consult existing members of other groups/ departments for the content and agree with Human Resources Department, the role/job content against broad role (the level at which the role/job is set) through a business justification.
Once the structure and broad roles have been agreed with Human Resources, vacancy notices are written for each role/job with details of eg job title, role description and responsibilities, who the candidate will report to, required qualifications, skills and/or experience and the band/broad role (the latter determines the rate of pay). The vacancy notices are advertised on the Company bulletin boards.
*See example Vacancy Notice (2)*
Any existing company employees may apply for any post by completing the site standard application form. All applications are considered on the the basis of the candidates current role/job and the requirements of the vacancy notice before being selected for a competency based interview (an interview where the candidate is assessed on their response to questions and scenarios applicable to the broad role and the specific role/job).
There may be existing members of fractional groups that will automatically form part of the new group/department and their existing group disbanded.
If the role/job is an Administration position within Band 5, the group/department will apply to the central administration pool to gain the resources. This is an existing pool of employees carrying out administration tasks and can be transferred from one role/post to another within the company and a now recruited through the Agency recruitment process. This process is also used where a role/job is classed as a ‘non-key’ role (temporary). The individuals within the administration pool are interviewed by the controllers of this pool through Agency selection process.
Other employees recruited through the Agency selection process may be considered for ‘conversion’ to ‘company employee’. Again, this is done through a rigorous process using a business justification.
The company uses this method of recruitment and selection process to try and ensure that best use is made of existing staff capabilities and competencies, individuals are happy within their role/job and to give career opportunity to those that want it through redeployment.
Sometimes, key skills are required for a particular role/job and cannot be found within the Company (vacancy notices find no suitable candidates) or there is a shortfall in the number of internal applicants. The attached flowchart shows the process the company takes for external employee recruitment.
It is a very effective method of recruitment. one drawback is that the competency of the candidate may not be fully assessed (reliant on the assessor) and the rigor of each assessment may vary considerably from assessor to assessor. This should be overcome by using an independent assessor on the interview panel to give an impartial viewpoint.
*See External Recruitment Process flow overleaf (3)*
Both internal and external applications are considered by the manager responsible for the future role holder and, depending on the pre-determined skills and qualifications, may also be considered by the Human Resources department.
When a series of suitable candidates are selected, the candidate will be invited for a competency based interview (where the candidate is tested against a series of questions and/or simulated scenarios) with a panel of interviewees that may include a member of the department, a member of human resources and an independent interviewee. This ensures that the interview is fair to the candidate and to the department receiving the applicant. It also ensures that the Human Resources department are following their own rules and guidelines imposed on them by regulators, for auditing purposes.
(See External Recruitment Placement Details (4)*
Further development and training
A site standard database has been developed and implemented for the recording and prompting of training records for key safety roles, other site roles, local departmental roles and suitably qualified and experienced persons (SQEP), linked to the existing human resources database that records all site training.
Below is a drawing of the gradual training requirements for the site compliance training:
Each individual may bring qualifications, skills and experience that may be a pre-requisite for their new job.
The individual must then complete, as part of site legislation the following compliance training (again dependant on the job and roles held):
- a site induction
- a building induction
- training relevant to any key safety, site or departmental roles the individual may hold
- training and assessment to carry out a specific task that may have an impact on safety (suitably qualified and experience person (SQEP))
Health and Safety training is generally provided to each individual, dependent on the current key safety, site or departmental roles they hold (different levels of training). All employees receive health and safety training, usually as part of the site induction, to encourage a culture of safe working practice. This is effective training, as the company encourages safety without compromise and reminds the individuals that it is not only the employers responsibility but also their own responsibility to ensure they are working and managing within a safe environment and to report any dangers to this policy.
This training is generally provided by the resident ‘on-site’ training providers.
Included in this training may be ‘on-plant specific’ that is relevant only to a particular building or department and the individuals that work there. Any changes, additions or new pieces of equipment may have to go through ‘plant modification processes’ and the training implications are analysed. Depending on the nature and availability of the training, external specialist training suppliers may have to be bought in.
National qualifications, through further and higher education applications, are considered on both a business and individual basis. Those candidates that are successful with their application will be sponsored through the Company. The Company carry out intermittent checks on candidate attendance and progress. This is an effective method for the individual to opt for national qualifications that can be transferred to other roles within the business.
Each individual has a regular appraisal and performance review with their immediate Line/Senior Manager. Here the individual’s progress, career, training and development opportunities are discussed, recorded and agreed. A candidate may opt for or be selected for secondment to another department or site, as part of their development. This can give the candidate further experience within their own field or can give them valuable new experiences. A candidate can also be assigned to a ‘mentor’ where he/she is given ‘one to one’ tuition and guidance, particularly if they’re in a particular discipline or they are experiencing problems in a particular area of their field.
This information is processed and recorded with the Human Resources department. This is a very effective method as it may be the only way the immediate line management may become aware of the individual’s progressive potential for redeployment, transfer and promotional prospects (outside the vacancy procedure).
Customer service and customer protection
When purchasing a product, it is the right of the customer, under consumer law, to expect the product to be ‘as described’ (say, in the written contract), ‘of satisfactory quality’ and ‘fit for purpose’.
When a customer buys services, the service should be provided with ‘reasonable’ care, within a ‘reasonable’ time and at a ‘reasonable’ price. The word ‘reasonable’ can be a bit of a ‘grey’ area and an be agreed as part of the contract, eg prices and timescales can have definite limitations put on them (cost will be ‘no less than’ and ‘no greater than’, delivery with be ‘no earlier than’ and ‘no later than’).
These agreements should benefit both the supplier and the customer. The supplier, so that what is expected does not fall outside the company’s restrictions; and the customer, so that what is expected is delivered to meet their restrictions. Penalties, like costs can be incurred for not meeting the agreed service provision. These costs can be fee-based and include incentives for exceptional performance and penalties incurred for lapses in time.
The customer service provision holds details of what the customer can expect of the service provider. It will describe the nature of the service, who (job/role holders) will provide the service, how the service will be provided and the strategy.
A badly written customer service provision can leave both the providers and the customers with discrepancies over the ‘grey areas mentioned above.
There are many internal customers and service providers within the Company and their service provisions will all be written to a set standard, eg a set of titles with minimum content requirement. Here is an example of the content of a badly written internal customer service provision from a Co-ordinator function:
- The Manager will provide the staff and tools to complete the task
- The Line Managers will manage the staff and tools within their own area – according to local requirements
- The Co-ordinators will analyse and co-ordinate all training requirements within their own area – according to local requirements
- The Administrators will provide support to the Co-ordinators
- Provision will be in accordance with current site standards
- Costs will be charged at standard rate
As you can see from the content above, the service provider could have added a more detailed description of exactly what should be expected, for example:
- A more detailed description of the what’s expected of the staff (their job/role) and the type of tools to be expected, eg hardware, software, documents to be produced
- How the Line Manager will manage the staff and tools, where they’ll be located and how the customer should report any problems and raise any discrepancies about the staff and tools
- A more detailed description of the service, for example, what the agreed task(s) are, timescales, deadlines, a breakdown of costs including penalty charges,
- A more detailed description of legal aspects, for example, safety, quality and accountabilities, job purpose and measures (key performance indicators and progress reports)
An external customer service provision will be based on the same principles.
Within the nuclear industry with its sensitive, potentially hazardous, product/service, British Nuclear Group and its employees would seem the obvious ‘contractor of choice’. The experience and training of its employees is second to none within the industry.
The top tier of the organisation is transferable and the employees rely on the management to ensure that contract terms can be met. Transfer of the contract to a competitor may mean redundancies, changes to pay and conditions.
The managers of British Nuclear Group rely on its employees to work with them to deliver, to the customer.