|
Acting Deputy Secretary Jeff Kupfer addresses the audience at the 2008 ISM Workshop. |
Over 500 U.S. Department of Energy and contractor employees started
the Labor Day weekend with safety in mind. Hosted by the U.S. Department
of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office, along with the prime contractors at
the Idaho National Laboratory Site, the 2008 Integrated Safety
Management Workshop, which was held in Idaho Falls, concluded Aug. 28.
Acting Deputy Secretary for the Department of Energy, Jeff Kupfer
described the workshop as “the Department of Energy’s signature safety
event,” stating that safety enables the Department’s mission success,
and complacent work is safety’s enemy. Kupfer also noted that workshop
participation helps to renew and strengthen safety concepts, and that
the workshop serves as a forum for sharing safety related practices and
lessons learned, while emphasizing the importance of the use of the
Integrated Safety Management System to safely accomplish the Department
of Energy’s mission.
Shane Johnson, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the
Office of Nuclear Energy, and John Grossenbacher, the Idaho National
Laboratory director, discussed the importance of Integrated Safety
Management at the INL. Johnson reminded attendees that the Department
has a great responsibility to carry out the nation’s nuclear development
activities, and it is critical that the work is done safely. He noted
that is accomplished when work is done through the continued
implementation and improvement of ISM, also noting that, “an accident
anywhere is an accident everywhere.”
Viewed as the framework for all DOE safety programs, the Integrated
Safety Management System continues to meet its objective of
incorporating safety into management and work practices at all levels.
The success of the Integrated Safety Management System has always been
dependent on on-going participation, involvement, and ownership of the
system by the people responsible for performing the work. U.S.
Department of Energy headquarters employee Victor Reis discussed the
importance of sustaining a strong safety culture at the Department
during times of transition, and reminding attendees that the Department
is performing work that affects the entire nation in numerous ways.
|
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office Nuclear Energy, Shane Johnson addresses the audience during the Plenary Session of the 2008 ISM Workshop. |
The focus of this year’s workshop was “integrated management.” What
integrated management means is taking the concepts of Integrated Safety
Management, such as lessons learned, and applying those concepts to
other systems within the Department of Energy, including safeguards and
security, quality assurance, and business and financial systems. In line
with this year’s focus, retired United States Forest Service employee
Dave Thomas discussed becoming a high reliability organization by
planning for the unexpected, and working with the employees performing
the work to consider the unexpected. Thomas also shared lessons learned
from numerous forest fires throughout the nation over the past decade.
Workshop participation on such a grand scale once again reaffirmed
the Department’s commitment to Integrated Safety and its use as a tool
for DOE and its contractors to ensure that work is planned and
accomplished safely. Although the nuclear industry maintains one of the
best safety records of all the major industries, the Department of
Energy does not take that record for granted, it always seeks continuous
improvement of DOE programs, and through the implementation of the
Integrated Safety Management System has had a positive impact on safe
behaviors both at work, and at home.
|