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Friday, July 18, 1997
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CST
kicks off pilot program to reduce accidents
Lab teams
with state to begin job training for welfare recipients
Status
of standard DOE badge stock
Park and
Ride pilot program begins Aug. 4
Cooperative
Threat Reduction Program focus of talk
UC regents'
meetings to be broadcast on the Internet
Program
designed to investigate seismic hazards
CST kicks off pilot program to reduce accidents
The Chemical Science and Technology (CST) Division on Wednesday kicked off a new pilot process aimed at reducing workplace behaviors that could lead to accidents in the Chemistry/Metallurgy Research Building.
The CMR BOMBS Squad Process -- "BOMBS" stands for Behavioral Observations Mean Better Safety -- allows trained volunteers to observe employees in their respective worksites at CMR and to note both safe and at-risk behaviors in one or more of the following categories: personal protective equipment, radiation safety, elevated work, materials transport, stored energy, communication, tools and equipment, housekeeping and other.
The observers are asked to perform a minimum of two site observations at random per week. They first will inform employees of the process. Following the observation, observers will discuss what they saw with the employees and provide positive or constructive feedback. They also will show employees the data sheet that they plan to submit. The observers also are to answer employees' questions and to write down their concerns or any problems that arise from the observation.
If the observers believe that an at-risk behavior occurred, they are to first reach agreement with the employees involved that indeed the behavior was at-risk. They then must ascertain why it occurred.
The observers will use a scoring procedure designed to provide a very sensitive measure of safety improvement. As an example, if five employees working in an area that requires protective clothing are all wearing such clothing, it counts as 1 safe point; if, however, three of the five employees are not wearing the required protective clothing, it counts as 3 at-risk points.
The collected data is placed in a special box, where it is later entered into a computer for analysis. The analysis will help CMR management determine what work areas, if any, need improvement and develop specific action plans.
Nelson Stalnaker of Inorganic Elemental Analysis (CST-8) is facilitator of the steering committee responsible for administering the program. Stalnaker said the program first was considered last September when CST Director Alex Gancarz and Theresa Cull of Facility Operations/CMR (CST-26) invited Tom Krause of Behavioral Science Technology, Inc., to give a presentation on its Behavioral Accident Prevention Process to the Laboratory Leadership Council. Martha Espeset of BST also gave a similar presentation to CMR managers about the same time.
Gancarz decided to pilot the BST process at the CMR facility, which contains seven wings and houses about 300 employees. The steering committee, comprised of a cross-section of nonmanagement CMR personnel, and BST began working together to tailor the process in January.
The first 22 volunteer observers completed their training in late June and earlier this month, and received their diplomas during the kickoff luncheon on the front lawn of the CMR facility. Several more training classes already are scheduled, said Stalnaker.
He emphasized that the process is very different from other types of safety programs. "First and foremost, this program is not intended to enforce regulations or to discipline anyone should an employee do something considered at-risk. In fact, no names are written down on the data sheets that the observers fill out," he pointed out. "All information is confidential."
Second, he continued, the process focuses on safe behaviors and recognizes that at-risk behaviors may lead to accidents. "Because of this, the process is proactive," he said. Stalnaker also emphasized that the process does not replace current safety programs such as the Management Walk-around.
Espeset of BST said the consulting firm will maintain continuous contact with the steering committee and come in as needed should any problems arise. But she added, "The building blocks of the process are in place the way they should be."
For booklets and videos containing more detailed information on the BOMBS Squad Process or if you would like to schedule short presentations for individual groups, call Stalnaker at 7-9641 or Cindy Coffman at 5-7160.
--Ternel N. Martinez
Lab teams with state to begin job training for welfare recipients
The Laboratory will be the first New Mexico employer to offer on-the-job training to welfare recipients under PROGRESS, New Mexico's new welfare program, said Duke Rodriguez, New Mexico Human Services Department secretary.
PROGRESS stands for Personal Responsibility and Opportunities to Gainfully Reach Economic Self-Sufficiency.
Rodriguez and Laboratory officials will welcome the first six trainees under the program, known as "Partners in Progress: A Bridge to Employment," at a noon luncheon Monday at the Laboratory's shipping and receiving warehouse, SM-30.
"The Laboratory is demonstrating leadership where we need it most: the training of welfare recipients," said Rodriguez. "This is a special opportunity for recipients to learn skills and gain confidence in their work abilities. Successful welfare reform depends on this type of partnership with businesses around the state."
The six, all participants in PROGRESS, will receive up to six months of on-the-job training as general clerk trainees working in the Business Operations (BUS) Division. Their duties will include receiving, routing and delivery; customer service; tracking and filing shipping records; data entry and other office work at the warehouse.
At the end of the training period, they will receive job placement assistance from the Laboratory, the state and several area employers. At that time, additional welfare recipients will begin on-the-job training at the warehouse, said John Herrera, leader of Staffing Services (HR-5).
"Experience working at the Laboratory will make the participants more employable than they were when they came here," Herrera said. "In addition, we will help them as much as we can to move from job training to a permanent job at the end of the six months. This most likely will mean partnering with other Laboratory subcontractors and other employers in Northern New Mexico."
The Laboratory on July 1 signed a cooperative agreement with HSD agreeing to sponsor "eligible welfare recipients to become productive members of New Mexico's work force." The state identified a small pool of welfare recipients for the program.
Following interviews, six were hired through Laboratory subcontractor TAD Government Services Group by Carol Smith, group leader of Materials Management (BUS-4).
HSD will continue to provide Medicaid and child-care funds for the trainees, along with a transportation allowance.
If the program is successful, the Laboratory will extend it to other business work areas such as data entry, accounting and facility services, Herrera said.
HSD statistics showed that nearly 26,000 New Mexicans received welfare in June, while nearly 70,000 received food stamps.
Last August, President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program with the non-entitlement Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. PROGRESS is New Mexico's TANF plan. Recipients of PROGRESS funds must work or take part in a work program such as the Los Alamos training program within two months of receiving benefits.
--Jim Danneskiold
Status of standard DOE badge stock
The shipment of badge (hologram) stock needed to create the Department of Energy standard picture badges will be received by the Badge Office no later than July 29, a substantial postponement of the original delivery date of July 7. Many individuals have received temporary badges with an expiration date of Aug. 1, in the expectation that the Badge Office would have been able to rebadge them with a standard badge by Aug. 1. It now appears that rebadging will take place within a very narrow timeframe.
The arrival of the badge stock will be announced in the Newsbulletin as soon as it comes in. If you are a student with a temporary badge, the holder of a temporary badge that expires at the end of August or a subcontractor with an expired picture badge, the Badge Office asks that you not come in to the Badge Office between July 29 and Aug. 4, so those who must get a new badge at that time can be rebadged.
Park and Ride pilot program begins Aug. 4
Beginning Aug. 4, Laboratory employees who live in Santa Fe, Pojoaque or Española can park their cars and ride a bus to work as part of a new Park and Ride pilot program sponsored by state and local governments.
The cost for riding the bus to and from work is $1 each way (exact change required). Employees who ride the bus will be dropped off in front of the Otowi Building at Technical Area 3. Employees who work at other technical areas can board a Johnson Controls World Services Inc. (JCI) taxi or a Los Alamos Bus System bus for transportation to their work sites.
The state road agency received approval from Utilities and Infrastructure (FSS-8) to use Lab property for dropping off employees during the pilot project, according to Leroy Sanchez of FSS-8.
The two-week bus pilot project is being undertaken to determine what effect, if any, a shuttle service has in reducing the volume of motor vehicle traffic between the communities, said Brian Ainsworth, a management analyst supervisor with the state Highway and Transportation Department.
Ainsworth said the first stop mornings in Los Alamos is at the Los Alamos County administrative office complex on Diamond Drive. The bus then goes to the TA-3 drop off point, then to the Sullivan Field parking lot also on Diamond Drive. There, the bus will pick up people going to Española, Pojoaque or Santa Fe.
And during the day, Los Alamos Bus will pick up employees who use the park and ride; they just need to show their park and ride ticket, said Ainsworth.
The state is providing $75,000 to fund the two-week pilot project; city and county governments in Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Española are providing another $25,000.
Under the pilot project, Lab employees can catch a ride on a bus from one of several designated pickup points in Santa Fe, Pojoaque and Española, Ainsworth explained. Buses would run every 20 minutes between 6 and 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. During non-peak periods, the buses would run once an hour, he said.
Lab employees who work late also can use the bus system; the last bus to Española leaves Los Alamos at 7:10 p.m. And the last bus to Pojoaque and Santa Fe leaves Los Alamos at 6:50 p.m.
Vehicles are 35-passenger Greyhound-type buses, all equipped with air conditioning and lifts for disabled persons.
"The Highway and Transportation Department in conjunction with the city of Santa Fe did a study of the triangle corridor," Ainsworth said, referring to the Los Alamos-Española-Santa Fe area. "The study said a park-and-ride service would have a big effect the first year."
Ainsworth said the study concluded that a park-and-ride system would remove 580 vehicles daily from this corridor during peak times, roughly 6 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.
"It's a big impact on that corridor for that time period," he said.
"The goal of the park-and-ride demonstration project is to produce a report analyzing the impact on the corridor so we can take this a step further to implement a full blown park-and-ride service.
"We want to have at least 15,000 to 16,000 passengers during this two-week period," Ainsworth continued. "That comes to about 1,000 passengers a day."
Ainsworth emphasized that the shuttle project wouldn't replace existing commuter van pools.
"The Santa Fe to Los Alamos commute has a lot of vanpools already," said Ainsworth.
During the trial period, riders who try out the park-and-ride service will be asked to complete a paper survey asking, for example, how they like the service and if it is convenient for them.
The drop off location in Pojoaque will be around the Pojoaque Pueblo Sports Bar off U.S. 84-285.
The drop off location in Española will be at the Española Y next to Angelina's Restaurant, on private property owned by Santa Clara Pueblo.
The drop off locations in Santa Fe are at Montgomery Ward at DeVargas Mall, the south capitol government office complex off St. Francis Drive and the city's Santa Fe Trails bus transit center downtown on Sheridan Street.
The state is holding a news conference at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Sullivan Field parking lot to announce the shuttle pilot project, to display the buses and to hand out route maps, said Ainsworth. Questions about the project can be directed to Ainsworth at 827-1575, or the city of Santa Fe's Santa Fe Trails city bus system at 438-1464.
--Steve Sandoval
Cooperative Threat Reduction Program focus of talk
Harold P. Smith Jr., assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear and chemical and biological defense programs, will discuss the "Cooperative Threat Reduction Program" Tuesday at 8:15 a.m. in the Physics Building Auditorium.
His talk will focus on the purpose for and actions of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which was initiated in 1991 to assist in the reduction, control and elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.
Smith, who holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has served as a consultant and adviser to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Armed Services Committees of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, and the National Academy of Sciences.
UC regents' meetings to be broadcast on the Internet
The University of California is beginning to broadcast its regents' meetings live over the Internet, beginning with the meeting currently under way at UC San Francisco. For a listener, the transmission is similar to hearing a radio broadcast. Information on how to receive the broadcasts is available in a UC news release.
Program designed to investigate seismic hazards
Geologist Jamie Gardner, nearest person, of Geology and Geochemistry (EES-1) and Doug Volkman, second from right, of the Facilities Project Delivery (FSS-6) on Monday shows reporters one of seven trenches located near the bottom of Camp May Road that may help better understand earthquake hazards in the area. The Laboratory's seismic program was established to investigate seismic hazards, to evaluate the seismic strength of buildings and infrastructure, and to monitor earthquake and volcanic activity in the region. Results from this geological study ultimately will enable Laboratory engineers to better characterize the ability of existing structures to withstand a seismic event by gaining more understanding of seismic design margins and reducing uncertainties. This is important for certain Los Alamos facilities that are required to meet seismic standards beyond normal building-code specifications. Photo by James E. Rickman
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