Career Path > NRC
NRC Rule change concerning working hours.
Trinian23:
Does anyone have any information on the upcoming NRC rule change concerning working hours? Specifically, what the changes will be and any links to help support that. Also, what are other plants planning to do to help implement this rule change?
Fermi2:
--- Quote from: Trinian23 on Nov 06, 2005, 09:33 ---Does anyone have any information on the upcoming NRC rule change concerning working hours? Specifically, what the changes will be and any links to help support that. Also, what are other plants planning to do to help implement this rule change?
--- End quote ---
Sorry it took so long.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/secys/2005/secy2005-0074/2005-0074scy.html
Mike
M1Ark:
--- Quote from: Tracer Bullet on Nov 09, 2005, 05:35 ---Sorry it took so long.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/secys/2005/secy2005-0074/2005-0074scy.html
Mike
--- End quote ---
Can you translate the bottom line, Mike?
Already Gone:
The new rule doesn't mean much to the worker-bees. The same restrictions apply almost the same as before. The limits on work hours are:
No more than; 16 hrs in a 24 hr period, 26 in 48 or 72 in 7 days. There has to be at least an 8 hour break between shifts. Turnover time doesn't count. The rule only applies to certain people.
Workers who are limited by these rules are:
Plant Operators
Security Personnel
Fire Brigade Members
Shift RP and Chemistry Techs
Persons performing maintenance on Safety Related structures, systems or components.
The majority of RP, Chemistry, Decon, and Maintenance personnel will not be affected by the rule because it only applies to people actually engaged in the safety related work. (i.e. An RP Tech who is qualified to perform as the "Shift Tech"<1> isn't limited unless he is actually assigned to that duty. Likewise a plant operator who is operating non-safety-related systems isn't limited, and a mechanic working on non-safety-related equipment isn't either.)
The change is more administrative than anything else, although it does require the licensees to go a little further than just hour-tracking to manage worker fatigue. Recognizing that people are all different, and that some need more rest than others, is a good thing. Simply limiting work hours to 26/48 or 72/week doesn't address the problem that some workers get tired for other reasons like stress, physical demands of the work, age, health, fitness, or even the repetitive nature of their jobs. It is unsafe (as well as unfair) to demand that someone work beyond his or her physical limits and then justify it by claiming that the hour limits were not exceeded. If someone is tired, and especially if they admit that they are tired, they should not be working at a nuclear power plant. The new rule requires licensees to accept this fact and to be more proactive in managing worker fatigue.
So, the "bottom line" is that you don't have to worry about losing that 7th day's OT when working outages. Just make sure you get enough sleep.
<1> "Shift Tech" means a technician who is part of the minimum shift complement for emergency response purposes. Sometimes, this person is referred to as the "E-Plan" Technician or something similar.
ageoldtech:
BeerCourt, I read the differences between the old and new 10 CFR 26, It was not very clear. How does the 8 week exemption effect outages >8 weeks for worker bees?
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