A concern submitted to the Fix-It Team clarified requirements for Laboratory employees who use class 3b or class 4 lasers.
Notice 168, issued last month, supercedes Notice 156, issued last summer. That notice was implemented at the request of the Department of Energy as a result of various accidents involving lasers at Los Alamos.
Some technical staff members felt that the Notice 156 imposed difficult, problematic requirements. The Fix-It team, working with the Lab's Laser Safety Committee, technical staff members, Industrial Hygiene and Safety (HSR-5), the Training Integration Office (PS-TIO) and the Los Alamos Site Office of the National Nuclear Security Administration, reviewed Notice 156 and wrote Notice 168, which was approved last month.
Notice 168 meets DOE requirements and calls for improved safety processes at the Laboratory. To read more about Notice 168, see the Dec. 16, 2005 Daily Newsbulletin.
The Fix-It team investigates and brainstorms solutions to issues raised by staff and various Laboratory organizations, such as the Group Leader Action Council, the Division Leaders Council, Dot Com and others. The director asked the team to concentrate its efforts on smaller, more immediate issues that, if solved, would remove obstacles to doing science. The group now meets regularly to identify potential problems for solution and to appoint champions to ensure resolution of these problems.
