Cultivating a Safety Culture within a Creative Environment

Frances AlstonManager, Environmental, Safety & Waste Management

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Discussion Outline

SRNL – Who are we? SRNL culture

– Diverse– Innovative

Overview of safety programs Other safety practices and committees Safety statistics

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DOE- EM Corporate Lab

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Applied Research and Development Laboratory

National Security Tritium Technology Plutonium Technology Homeland Security Support Non-Proliferation Technology National Law Enforcement

SRS Tritium Facilities

Environmental and Chemical Process Technology

• EM Corporate Laboratory• Materials Stabilization

and Disposition• Cleanup Technologies

Energy Security Hydrogen Storage

Technology Production of Hydrogen Global Nuclear Energy

Partnership Renewable Energy

Research

R&D: Research & Development; EM: Environmental Management

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SRNL Staff

SRNL’s staff - over 900 Research staff of over

700 includes – Materials scientists– Chemists– Physicists– Biologists– Engineers– Technicians.

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SRNL Staff

Research Support/Operating Staff of 200 includes– Engineering– Maintenance– Operations– ESH

Quality Assurance

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SRNL Safety Culture

Management– Walkdowns– BBS observations– Sponsorship– Senior Management Safety

Committee – Corrective Action Review

Board– Operations Council

Employees– Walkdowns– BBS observations– Safety meeting participation

• conduct• attend

– Safety related committees membership

Safety is integrated at all levels of our business

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Current SRNL Safety Program ConfigurationISMS Work Planning & Control Defense-in-Depth

Define Scope of

Work

Analyze Hazards

Perform Work Safely

Feedback / Improvement

, Scope of WorkTask Plans

L1, 1.01 Admin of SRNL Procedures and R&D Work Control DocumentsProcedures, work instructions, R&D DirectionsPre-job briefs, BBS observations

DefineScope of Work

Analyze Hazards

Develop & Implement Controls

PerformWork Safety

Feedback / Improvement

ISMS

,

Pre-

Control of Technical Work- Task Technical Plans- Task Technical Requests- Technical Assistance Requests- Categories of Work: Engineering/Design, Routine Service, R&D

Conduct of R&DHAP, AHA, JHA

Eliminate HazardEngineered ControlsAdmin. Controls, e.g., ProceduresTraining, Education, ExperiencePPE

Daily ISM BriefsPre-Job BriefsWork Control Documents- Procedures- Work Instructions- R&D Directions“Time-Outs”

Self-AssessmentsManagement ObservationsBBS ObservationsLessons Learned/Operating ExperiencePerformance Indicators

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Methods Used to Facilitate an Exemplary Safety Culture

Conduct of Research and Development Assisted Hazard Analysis SRNL Operations Council Local Safety Improvement Team

– Behavior Based Safety

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Methods Used to Facilitate an Exemplary Safety Culture - Conduct of R&D

Conduct of Research and Development – Roadmap for applying

safety requirements to R&D work

– Consistent with DOE ISM process

– Component of WSRC ISM Description

– Provides consistent approach to hazard identification and control

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Assisted Hazard Analysis (AHA)

Assisted Hazard Analysis is a disciplined, comprehensive software program.

It includes structured questions to help users identify hazards and controls associated with assigned work.

Assisted Hazard Analysis integrates diverse, independent processes into a "one stop" process with linkages to procedures, forms, permits, checklists, lessons learned and even subject matter experts, when required.

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Operations Council

SRNL Operations Council Committees– Chemical Safety – Glovebox – Conduct of R&D Board– Radiological Work Practices – Electrical Safety – Research & Development Work Planning and Control

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Operations Council - Committees

Chemical Safety committee– Established to get R&D

involved with Subject Matter Experts (SME)

– Purpose of the committee is to improve Chemical Safety within the laboratory environment

– Procedure development– Training development

Glovebox committee– Established to provide

technical and operations oversight for glove box requirements to ensure safe operations and compliance with codes, standards, orders, and accepted industry practices

– Training development

Safety is integrated at all levels of our business

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Operations Council - Committees

Conduct of Research and Development Board– Established to serve as the

centralized method to perform hazard analysis associated with scientific investigations within a research environment

– Implements the principles of ISM within SRNL

Radiological Work Practices Committee– Provides cohesive approach to

policies and practices governing radiological work

• Radiological practices policy setting

• Training• Assessment of

radiological work and work practices

Safety is integrated at all levels of our business

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Operations Council - Committees

Electrical Safety Committee– Resolution of R&D electrical

issues– Recommends electrical safety

policies– Review incidents and

recommends lesson learned– Training/qualification

Research & Development Work Planning and Control Committee– Work polices development – Interface with the Conduct of

Research and Development Board for ISMS policies and procedures

– Provides recommendations for SRNL senior staff on R&D Work Planning and control issues

Safety is integrated at all levels of our business

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Local Safety Improvement Team (LSIT)

Local Safety Improvement Team (LSIT)• 22 Department Representatives• 1 Management Champion• 1 Management Sponsor

Implementation through Team Charter Implements Behavior Based Safety LSIT Teams

– Data Administration– Communications– Training– Strategic Planning – Membership

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BBS Observation Statistics

Month/Year Observers Active Observers

(month)

Number of Observations

September 2006 351 172 246

March 2007 355 164 296

August 2007 542 431 680

September 2007 542 214 329

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SRNL BBS Statistics

50.0%

100.0%B

ehav

iors

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Ob

serv

atio

ns

% Safe 98.5%98.7%98.4%98.9%98.5%99.0%98.5%99.2%98.8%98.7%98.7%99.0%98.7%99.0%

Observations 323 246 251 214 183 247 275 296 296 334 640 650 680 329

Aug-06

Sep-06

Oct-06

Nov-06

Dec-06

Jan-07

Feb-07

Mar-07

Apr-07

May-07

Jun-07

Jul-07

Aug-07

Sep-07

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SRNL Safety Posture

SRNL DART and TRC Rates

00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.9

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

Rat

e TRC Rate

DART Rate

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Cultivating a Safety Culture Within a Creative Environment

Conclusion

What’s Next?– Human Performance

By utilizing the creativity of the research and support staff and the Safety programs that are embedded into SRNL’s safety culture, SRNL safety performance is continuing to improve.

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Cultivating a Safety Culture Within a Creative Environment

Questions?