The Necessary and Sufficient Process leading to Work Smart Standards is a Department of Energy initiative to assure adequate protection for workers, the public, and the environment. The Department's specific goals for the initiative are to:

• enhance public and worker safety,
• build public trust and confidence,
• develop reference points for measuring excellence,
• provide for easier and more effective planning and implementation of work practices, and
• improve efficiency.

The Work Smart Standards concept was initially tested by several focused pilot programs, including a pilot at Berkeley Lab's National Tritium Labeling Facility (NTLF). Based on the success of the NTLF pilot, Dr. Martha Krebs, Director of the Office of Energy Research, selected Berkeley Lab to be the first multiprogram Lab in the Department to execute the program site-wide. The Laboratory received permission to implement the Work Smart Standards process on April 19, 1996, and the process commenced with a kickoff meeting at Berkeley Lab on May 31, 1996.

The Work Smart Standards initiative directs the Laboratory to develop a set of ES&H standards based on the work performed at the Laboratory and the hazards associated with the work. The process used by the Laboratory to develop the set of Work Smart Standards complied with DOE Manual M450.3, "The Department of Energy Closure Process for Necessary and Sufficient Sets of Standards." The basic steps of the process are to create teams of knowledgeable and experienced people to:

• define the work and hazards,
• identify the necessary and sufficient set of standards,
• confirm the set, and
• approve the set.

Berkeley Lab's set of Work Smart Standards includes required Federal, State and local laws and, additionally, national and international standards which represent the highest operating standards of industrial and commercial institutions. The Approval Authorities-Charles V. Shank, Director, LBNL and James Turner, Manager, DOE Oakland Operations Office-are authorized to approve the Work Smart Standards Set. Following approval, the standards set will serve as the agreed-upon-basis for operating Berkeley Lab in a safe, efficient, and cost effective manner. When implemented, the Work Smart Standards and derived safety practices will maintain the Laboratory in the upper quartile of ES&H performance, compared to similar DOE and external activities.