Director's Perspective

Welcome to the Office of Emergency Management Oversight

Steven Simonson, Director

The Office of Emergency Management Oversight is one of the four subordinate offices to the Office of Independent Oversight (HS-60) under the Office of Health, Safety and Security (HS-1). Our mission is not only to provide an accurate status of emergency management in the DOE complex to the Secretary and senior DOE management but also to provide the impetus to improve the DOE emergency management program.

Our staff is made up of emergency management professionals dedicated to improving the DOE emergency management program. Our primary mission is to conduct both regular independent site inspections and complex-wide studies. Our regular independent site inspections focus on the functional areas of emergency management (i.e., hazard surveys, emergency planning hazards assessments, protective actions, classification, notification, training and drills, exercises) and include limited scope performance tests. As part of these inspections, we also assess the program awareness of and effectiveness of management and direction provided by the DOE program offices. Complex-wide studies are performed based on issues and generic weaknesses found in emergency management programs (e.g., wildland fire). We follow the inspection process laid out in DOE O 470.2B, Independent Oversight and Performance Assurance Program. Programs are evaluated based on the requirements and guidance found in various documents including DOE O 151.1C, Comprehensive Emergency Management System, the associated Emergency Management Guide (DOE G 151.1), and our appraisal process protocols and guides. Reports are issued based on the findings of the inspection. HS-63 provides feedback to the site/facility corrective action plans. Then during our regular independent inspections, we look at a sampling of the effectiveness of the corrective actions. When appropriate, our reports will also include a section on Noteworthy Practices, which are site-specific methods or approaches for implementing an aspect of the site's emergency management program that another DOE site may find useful.

You can find out more information about HS offices, programs, and reports by using the links on the left-hand side of your screen. There are also direct links embedded in the discussion text to facilitate your access to various guidance documents applicable to the emergency management arena.

I hope that you find this web site helpful in understanding the role of our Office and the process we use to fulfill our mission. If you have any comments or questions regarding the content of our web site or our organization, please contact Steven Simonson, Director, Office of Emergency Management Oversight at steven.simonson@hq.doe.gov.