Management system

It includes all business processes, starting with the design of a product or service to be provided, and ends with clear documentation as well as knowledge which can be used to systematically improve the system. In addition to optimising quality, modern management systems also address environmental and workplace safety performance. They combine the various requirements into a common structure and are consistently focussed on meeting the expectations of not only the customer but also the other stakeholders.

Continuous improvement is achieved by means of an integrated management system.

The operator of a nuclear plant is obliged to keep the description of its management system during the entire operating period until the end of decommissioning updated according to the condition of its plant. It is also obliged to report changes in the content of the description of its management system to the regulator.

In addition to this specific requirement from the nuclear energy act, further requirements for a management system exist. For example, the legislation (SDR, ADR) for the transport of hazardous goods, requires quality management system based on national, international or other standards to be prepared for all processes within the transport of radioactive materials, and this must be accepted by the responsible authorities. Another example is the regulatory supervision of the safety culture, or the measures put in place to ensure high safety, which indirectly requires the operator of a nuclear plant to implement a safety management system which formally sets out the structural side of the safety culture.

Other laws may not explicitly require a management system, however place environmental requirements which would be difficult to fulfil without systematically handling environmental aspects. Therefore, an environmental management system is not required, but is useful. Also in the area of safety at work, today’s legislation gives an advantage to a systematic organisation of safety aspects, so that even without specific legal requirements, a occupational safety management system is almost indispensable.