Safety is our responsibility. Keeping ourselves and our coworkers safe is a social compact we share as employees of Berkeley Lab. By educating people about proper behavior and holding them accountable, we can make safety an integrated part of everyone's work experience here. Remember: if it isn't safe, it isn't done.
Know the Facts
Contact your EH&S Coordinator.
View slides showing the Lab's accident statistics, trends, etc.
Got One Minute for Safety?
Find a wealth of downloadable safety slides with short lessons on everything from ergonomics to lasers.
News
6/16/09
Lab Responds to Declaration of H1N1 Virus Pandemic by World Health Organization
The H1N1 virus, previously called the swine flu, continues to spread, now affecting 74 countries. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a pandemic. H1N1 has been judged to be of moderate severity. National levels of severe illness from the virus appear similar to levels seen during local seasonal influenza periods, and most people recover from the infection without the need for hospitalization or medical care. As the northern hemisphere flu season winds down, officials will monitor virus characteristics in the southern hemisphere’s flu season. U.S. vaccine manufacturers have prepared prototype vaccines, and hope to have a vaccine available later this year. In the meantime, Berkeley Lab continues to prepare for the impact of widespread flu through its business continuity planning process.
In addition to continuing to practice good health hygiene, employees must contact Health Services (x6266 or e-mail) if they or an immediate family member experience flu-like illness, or return to work after illness or from travel in an affected country. Supervisors who send staff home for flu-like illness must also contact Health Services.
5/14/09
JHA: Review, Revise Annually, Add Description of Work
Every employee's Job Hazards Analysis (JHA) must be reviewed and reauthorized at least annually, or whenever their job changes significantly. Staff cannot work unless they have an active JHA. All JHAs must include a "Description of Work" being done. These descriptions must be added to Work Group JHA Profiles by June 30, and to Individual JHA Profiles by Sept. 30. Go here to read about the Description of Work and to view step-by-step instructions. The JHA FAQs are found here. For additional information e-mail jha@lbl.gov.
4/29/09
Take Normal Precautions Against Flu
The current H1N1 ‘Swine’ Flu outbreak is a dynamic situation being closely monitored by the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control) and WHO (World Health Organization). Here’s what we know:
- 91 confirmed cases have been found in the US (including California)
- 10 confirmed cases in Imperial, San Diego, and Sacramento counties
- No confirmed cases in Alameda or Contra Costa counties
- One confirmed US death (of toddler visiting from Mexico)
- No link to pigs; human-to-human transmission only
LBNL will continue to follow the development of this outbreak. Currently, employees should take these everyday steps to protect your health:
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
- If you get sick with influenza, stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. If you develop a fever, contact your personal health care provider.
- Avoid nonessential travel to areas with high rates of transmission (currently, Mexico City).
Additional information from the CDC and answers to frequently asked questions.
Alameda County
Contra Costa County
Travel and additional public health information from the State of California.
4/22/09
DOE's Final HSS Report Transmitted to Lab for Corrective Action
DOE has submitted the final report on its independent oversight inspection of the Lab's environment, safety and health programs. The DOE team praised the Lab for "proactively working to improve safety management," for "effective oversight of construction activities," and for its "integrated system of hazard analysis and control for outside users at the ALS." The report also listed 10 major areas of improvement for the Lab to address. Lab Management is in the process of reviewing the findings of the report, and is developing a proposed corrective action plan which will be sent to all stakeholders for review before being submitted to DOE by the June 16 deadline. For the full DOE report, go here. Go here for the transmittal letter and here for the validation appendices.
Safety Forum
Have a safety question that you'd like to get feedback on? Join our Safety Forum to exchange ideas and get advice from expert moderators.
Safety Lessons Learned
Razor Blade Safety in Laser Labs
Recently a staff researcher cut the back of his hand while reaching to extract a pair of goggles from a plastic goggle rack outside a laser hutch. Unexpectedly someone had placed an optical mount with an unguarded razor attached to it in one of the goggle pockets, a location in which no user would expect a hazard to be waiting for them. The razor blade was being used as a knife edge in optical measurements. Placing an exposed blade in the goggle holder is equivalent to throwing sharps in the trash. When the researcher reached for the goggles, the optical mount with the razor blade fell through from the pocket above and cut him. The extent of the injury was a longitudinal cut along the back of his hand 4-cm, which required 8 stitches. Instead of a razor, use a commercial substitute or flat metal surface. A razor can only be used if it is in an optical mount with guards placed over the setup to prevent one's hands from reaching the blade. Full briefing here.
To review more safety incidents and lessons learned go here.
Profiles in Safety
Burgers, Potato Salad and Safety
Learning about safety need not be a boring affair. That’s what prompted Sandra McFarland with Materials Sciences to use her division’s annual BBQ as the place to showcase safety lessons in an entertaining way. She decided to use comedy, and with the help of Alice Muller-Egan, a playwright and theater veteran, they produced a stand-up routine, mock music program, and a version of American Idol to get the attention of staff. More>
'Reel' Safety
Panel Discusses HSS Audit Experiences: A panel of safety experts from Brookhaven, SLAC and Argonne recently spoke to Operations staff about the experiences they had when their own Labs underwent an HSS review. The result was a lively and informative discussion about the intricacies of audit protocols and helpful recommendations for interacting with the audit team.
What is Integrated Safety Management, or ISM? This interactive video provides a short introduction to Integrated Safety Management, and brief overview of ISM's five core functions. Click on any one of the five to learn more about how it is applied in the workplace.
How to respond to a safety audit: This EH&S video features a mock audit interview that takes place in the Molecular Foundry. It is intended to show what it's like when an auditor comes into your work area unannounced to speak with you about how you apply ISM in the workplace. The video runs 20 minutes, but you can jump to any of the five questions using a simple menu.
Last updated
06/30/2009