Environment, Safety and Health

Environment, Safety and Health Policy

As we work to achieve the Y‑12 mission and our vision of a modernized Y‑12 Complex, we will do so by ensuring the safety and health of every worker, the public, and the environment. Every employee, contractor, and visitor is expected to take personal responsibility for their actions.

• Environmental Policy Statement: We protect the environment, prevent pollution, comply with applicable requirements, and continually improve our environment.
• Safety and Health Policy Statement: The safety and health of our workers and the protection of public health and safety are paramount in all that we do. We maintain a safe work place, and plan and conduct our work to ensure hazard prevention and control methods are in place and effective.

In support of these policies, we are committed to:

• Integrating Environment, Safety and Health (ES&H) into our business processes
• Continuously improving our processes and systems
• Directly, openly, and truthfully communicating this policy and our ES&H performance
• Striving to minimize the impact of our operations on the environment in a safe, compliant, and cost-effective manner using sustainable practices
• Incorporating sustainable design principles into the design and construction of facility upgrades, new facilities, and infrastructure considering life-cycle costs and savings
• Incorporating the use of engineering controls to reduce or eliminate hazards whenever possible into the design and construction of facility upgrades, new facilities, and infrastructure
• Striving to provide a clean and efficient workplace free of occupational injuries and illnesses (Target Zero)
• Fostering and maintaining a work environment of mutual respect and teamwork that encourages free and open expression of ES&H concerns

Environmental Stewardship

It is B&W Y‑12 policy to integrate principles of environmental protection into all facets of our operations. We are committed to conducting activities in a manner which protects the public and the environment, prevents pollution, complies with applicable regulations, and continuously improves our management systems.

To further our commitment to environmentally responsible operations, we have integrated the elements of the international standard ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) into our Integrated Safety Management System. The ISO 14001 model provides a widely recognized set of principles and standards for integrating environmental considerations into daily operations.

The EMS ensures that environmental aspects of B&W Y‑12 operations are systematically identified, controlled, and monitored. Moreover, an EMS provides mechanisms for setting environmental objectives and targets, responding to changing environmental conditions and requirements, reporting on environmental performance, developing action plans, and prioritizing how we allocate resources to continually improve our environmental management.

All B&W Y‑12 staff and contractors have a role in achieving our policy commitments and implementing our EMS. Our National Nuclear Security Administration customer expects adherence to these commitments. The annual evaluation of our company performance will consider our progress toward our environmental goals and adherence to this policy, and we invite all interested parties to provide input on our performance.