Environment, Safety, and Health INTEGRATED HAZARD APPRAISAL of BERKELEY LAB DIRECTORATE/OPERATIONS OFFICES
for Work and Hazards Identification to Define the Necessary and Sufficient Standards Set and Direct Appraisal Efforts

August 30, 1996

HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION TEAM

PROJECT TIME-LINE

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

The Directorate/Operations (Ops) Offices consists of offices of the Laboratory Director, the Deputy Director for Research, the Deputy Director for Operations, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Human Resources. These offices perform management and administrative functions. Unit heads within these offices are responsible for their employees safety and health. The Directorate/Ops Offices ES&H coordinator (Irene Kan) is charged with oversight pertaining to environment, safety, and health (ES&H) matters. The ES&H coordinator reports ES&H activities to Karl Olson, Office of Contract Management. An ES&H Committee meets periodically and provides guidance to the Deputy Directors with regard to ES&H concerns. The ES&H Committee is chaired by the ES&H Coordinator and is composed of representatives from each of the units in the Directorate and Ops offices.

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS AND OBJECTIVES

Research Program Management Responsibility for Safety

Line Management is responsible for the protection of the workers and for ensuring that its operations do not impact public health or the environment.

At the Berkeley Laboratory, the following documents establish the policy and provide the implementation guidance that makes line management effectively accountable for protection of workers, the public and the environment:

• Operating and Assurance Plan, Pub-3111 (1996),
• Self Assessment Manual, Pub-5344 (1996)
• Environment Health and Safety Manual, Pub-3000 (1995)
• Chemical Hygiene and Safety Plan, Pub-5341 (1992)
• Waste Generator Guidelines, Pub-3092 (1996)
• Employee Performance/Progress Review (Section III), RPM Pub-201 (1996)

Clear Roles and Responsibilities

Clear and unambiguous lines of authority and responsibility for ensuring safety are established and maintained at all organizational levels within the Directorate and Operations Offices.

Each Division making up the Berkeley Laboratory has clearly defined lines of responsibility down to the working level. Each division designates a research investigator to represent its views and concerns on the Laboratory Safety Review Committee and a full time employee to act as the ES&H Coordinator. This Coordinator acts as the interface between ES&H concerns and compliance in the workplace and the EH&S technical professionals.

Competence Commensurate with Responsibilities

Personnel possess the experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities that are necessary to discharge their responsibilities.

Job assignments, including hires, are reviewed by line management and by the compensation group within Human Resources to ensure that the requirements and responsibilities of a job are matched by the experience, knowledge and skills of individuals selected for assignment. A performance expectation for managers and supervisors in the Directorate/Ops Offices is how well the talents, knowledge and skills of staff are matched to work assignments and responsibilities

The Laboratory's training program ensures that each staff member, including participating guests, is adequately trained to do participate safely in Laboratory activities. Staff, with supervisor participation, fill out the Jobs Hazards Questionnaire (JHQ) describing the hazards associated with their job assignment and work area. Evaluation of the responses by the Directorate/Ops ES&H Coordinator and the cognizant supervisor determines the training regimen needed to carry out work in a manner that protects the employee, co-workers, the public and the environment.

Balanced Priorities

Resources are effectively allocated to address safety, programmatic, and operational considerations. Protecting the public, the workers, and the environment is a priority whenever activities are planned and performed.

All environment, safety and health activities in the Laboratory are described in technical terms with budgetary information included. Each year, this information is updated, reviewed and prioritized on the basis of risk to workers, public, and the environment by a Laboratory-wide committee selected to represent programmatic line management and ES&H professionals. This document is utilized by Laboratory Senior Management in strategically planning the immediate focus and long term goals of the environment, safety and health program at the Laboratory.

Hazard Controls Tailored to Work Being Performed

Administrative and engineering controls to prevent and mitigate hazards are tailored to the work and associated hazards being performed.

Chapter 6 of the Environment, Health and Safety Manual clearly defines the steps for each line manager to develop the appropriate engineering and administrative controls to mitigate hazards in the workplace. The Laboratory's ES&H Self Assessment Program, including Functional Appraisals by ES & H professionals, and the UC/DOE Contract 98 Performance Measures provide assurance that implementation of hazards control is adequate to protect the worker, the public and the environment.

Identification of Safety Standards and Requirements

Before work is performed, the associated hazards are evaluated and an agreed-upon set of safety standards and requirements are established which, if properly implemented, provide adequate assurance that the public, the workers, and the environment are protected from adverse consequences.

The Laboratory is dedicated to following the Necessary and Sufficient Closure Process (DOE 450.3) on an iterative basis at all levels of activities in the Laboratory to ensure that Safety Standards are adequate to provide protection to workers, the public and the environment. This process is completed by reevaluation of work in those situations where current work is significantly modified, new work is proposed, or substantial facility modifications are being made (Chapter 6, Environment Health and Safety Manual).

Operations Authorization

The conditions and requirements to be satisfied for operations to be initiated and conducted are clearly established and agreed-upon.

Conditions and requirements for facilities determined to be of higher risk, based on the Preliminary Hazards Analysis, are contained in a Safety Analysis Document. Activity Hazard Documents are the basis for meeting this requirement for specific operations and activities falling into the higher risk category at the Berkeley Laboratory. Internal Agreements describing the performance expectations by each party are used for operations between two functional areas where the quality of performance might adversely impact the Laboratory's ability to meet its responsibility to protect workers, the public and the environment.

ACTIONS TO BE PERFORMED

The primary mission of the Directorate / Operations Offices is to manage Berkeley Laboratory.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS
WITHIN WHICH THE WORK WILL BE PERFORMED

The Directorate / Operations Offices is primarily office-oriented; although there are visiting students that participate in programs sponsored by the Center for Science and Engineering (CSEE). Management and Administrative personnel occupy the following buildings: 65, 65A, 65B and 936. In addition to these buildings, rooms are occupied in Buildings 7, 50, 50A, 51, 69, 70A, 90, 90B, and 938. CSEE sponsored students may work in any of the buildings at LBNL.

MATERIALS AND CONDITIONS
THAT COULD CAUSE ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES

Ergonomic hazards associated with the use of computers are the primary occupational hazard for management and administrative personnel. There is a pro-active workstation evaluation program which included the development of an evaluation form and a computer database for recordkeeping. During the upcoming year most workstations in this Division will be evaluated.

CSEE sponsored students may be potentially exposed to chemical, biological and physical hazards. The CSEE safety policy is for mentors to evaluate hazards with the student before work begins in the laboratory, as well as to provide formal classroom and on-the-job training. Mentor supervision is an important means for ensuring a safe work environment.

UNCERTAINTIES ABOUT THE WORK

No changes in the type or amount of work are anticipated in this organization.

RESOURCE AVAILABILITY AND CONSTRAINTS

No significant changes in Directorate / Operations Offices resources devoted to ES&H activities are planned.

ES&H representatives (Irene Kan and Karl Olson) offered the following evaluation of the EH&S Division past and future resources and support:

• The need for EH&S resources and support for the coming year should be the same as last year.
• Directorate / Operations is satisfied with EH&S support during the past year.
• Directorate / Operations is highly confident that EH&S will meet its needs in the coming year.
• Suggestions for improvements: None submitted.

STAKEHOLDER CONCERNS

Certain units of this Organization have extensive contact with Berkeley Lab employees and members of the public, such as vendors and job applicants. It is important to the functioning and reputation of Berkeley Laboratory that tasks are carried out in an efficient and courteous manner.