Chi-Chang’s Corner

ISM Audit Reveals Room to Improve

September 7, 2007

Chi-Chang Kao
NSLS Department Chair
kao@bnl.gov

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The Integrated Safety Management (ISM) audit team was on site for the last two weeks of August, walking around various work areas to observe operations and learn how ISM is implemented at Brookhaven. Much of what the auditors saw was very positive, and it was clear that there are strong programs in place for controlling risks to personnel and the environment. We expect a good report, but not a perfect one.

The auditors found that management of the NSLS set-up laboratories and control of chemical operations within those laboratories is in need of attention. They also noted several instances where personnel were not wearing required personal protective equipment (PPE) while handling cryogens. This issue was noted throughout the Laboratory. The Laboratory Director issued a directive requiring all personnel to wear appropriate clothing while working in experimental and industrial areas, and at this point, we have interpreted that to mean that all personnel must wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and enclosed shoes while on the NSLS experimental floor. Please comply with those requirements.

A working group that includes a broad representation of NSLS staff and users has been formed to evaluate PPE needs for specific operations and to determine how to improve management of the NSLS set-up laboratories and chemical handling and storage. You will hear more on these issues soon and we will seek your input as the evaluation progresses.

At the last Users’ Executive Committee (UEC) meeting, we started discussions with UEC members and representatives of the special interest groups on the best way to transition from the NSLS to NSLS-II. This unprecedented transition includes the transfer of user scientific programs, beamlines and endstations, the user access model, and staff, and it’s important that we begin thinking about all of these aspects. The UEC plays a critical role in collecting input and reflecting concerns from the user community about this process, and I will work closely with UEC Chair Dan Fischer and the rest of the committee members.

We are also in the process of updating the NSLS strategic 5-Year Plan, and developing next fiscal year’s performance goals and targets as well as the budget and staffing plans to carry them out. Users and staff members with ideas or suggestions should talk to members of the UEC and relevant division heads, respectively. These plans will be discussed at the upcoming UEC, Town, and Scientific Advisory Committee meetings.

The success of the Synchrotron Catalysis Consortium (SCC) has brought about a rapid growth of the NSLS catalysis research community. In order to meet the increasing demand in x-ray absorption spectroscopy and enhance the capability for catalysis research, we’ve decided to upgrade beamline X18A, in collaboration with the current Participating Research Team, the SCC, and the DOE/BES Chemical Sciences Division. The upgrade will allow for in-situ, time-resolved, simultaneous x-ray diffraction and spectroscopy measurements.

As part of the long-term staffing plan, we would like to increase the number of students and postdocs in the department to enhance collaboration between the NSLS and the user community and train future staff for NSLS and NSLS-II. Tied to this effort, I’m working with Brookhaven’s Office of Educational Programs and the Physics Department of Stony Brook University (SBU) to bring more students from SBU’s Master of Instrumentation program to the NSLS. The curriculum includes a sequence of courses and a thesis program involving state-of-the-art instrumentation built by the student. The graduates of this program are highly sought after by both BNL and industry because of the breadth of experience they acquire.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate the 17 high school and college summer students for successfully carrying out their research at the NSLS, and thank their mentors for spending their valuable time to supervise these students. The projects undertaken by these students, ranging from the development of x-ray detectors to the structural determination of catalysts, are all cutting-edge research topics. I hope their NSLS experience has given them a taste of what research is about, and will encourage them to pursue a career in science and engineering and come back to work with us in the future.