Critiquing Drills

DOE-HDBK-1099-96

9. CRITIQUING DRILLS

Immediately following the drill, the drill coordinator should hold a critique to formally conclude the

drill. The critique should be documented on facility forms specifically designed for this purpose.

In cases where the drill is a requirement for qualification, the critique should be filed as part of

the participant's training record.

A drill critique is not necessarily a chronology of the events of a drill. It is an analysis of what

went right and any shortcomings with facility operating personnel actions, the drill scenario,

facility equipment, cues and props, drill evaluators, safety monitors, etc. The critique should

include an analysis of expected versus actual facility operating personnel actions, a review of

scenario events, and identification of shortcomings in the scenario or drill conduct. The drill

team should meet, discuss their evaluation notes, discuss the actions taken by facility operating

personnel, and discuss the drill performance. A good practice is to have the participants

evaluate themselves first, then have the drill team add in anything missed. The drill coordinator

should make a determination of whether the drill objective was met or not, and also list the

personnel and the positions on which they were evaluated or trained on the critique form.

Notes should be kept for referral the next time the same drill is conducted. Lessons learned

should be generated, distributed to all appropriate facility operating personnel to ensure that

maximum training value is gained, and filed for future reference. Deficiencies in training,

equipment, procedures, etc., identified in the critique should be documented and corrected.