Comparison of Responsibility Mental Models of Fire Brigades in Charge of Nuclear Power Plants

Abstract

The responsibility mental model (RMM) is an important factor in an effective cooperation system that affects decision-making, role adjustment, and performance. For this purpose, 186 firefighters from an off-site fire brigade and 65 firefighters from an on-site fire brigade participated in the study. We compared the levels of the RMM for a fire at a nuclear plant and analyzed whether the RMM is shared internally in each fire brigade through latent profile analysis. The results showed that the responsibility of on-site fire brigades is prioritized for fire liability in nuclear plants. Both brigades identified the heterogeneity of the RMM. Firefighters from the off-site fire brigade were divided into three groups of thinking they have ‘more responsibility’ (11%), ‘shared responsibility’ (36%), and ‘less responsibility’ (53%) than their cooperation partner. Firefighters from the on-site fire brigade were divided into two groups of ‘more responsibility’ (48%) and ‘shared responsibility’ (52%). The result that each fire brigade does not share a homogeneous RMM suggests the ambiguity of roles in the cooperation system. The need for infrastructure for cross-organizational collaboration and coordination is discussed.