The Office of Health, Safety and Security: Who Are We?

Background: On October 1, 2006, the Secretary of Energy created the Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) to integrate Department of Energy (DOE) Headquarters-level functions for health, safety, environment, and security into one unified office. To accomplish this important responsibility, HSS is focused on providing the Department with effective and consistent policy development, technical assistance, education and training, complex-wide independent oversight, and enforcement. Additionally, HSS addresses Department-wide cross-cutting issues and enhances collaboration and sharing of technical expertise.

Organization: We have organized HSS to promote the sharing and integration of information and to ensure clear responsibilities and accountability for these important functions within our organization. Details and information about the various elements of HSS can be found using the interactive organizational chart. The HSS Offices menu can also be used to navigate our website.

Functional Areas: HSS is DOE's central organization responsible for health, safety, environment, safeguards, and security. The Office provides corporate-level leadership and strategic vision to coordinate and integrate these vital programs. HSS functional areas include worker health and safety; security; policy and assistance; training; oversight and enforcement; technology, nuclear and weapons data; outreach and collaboration; and organizational sustainability.

Outreach and Collaboration: HSS strives to maintain a close working relationship with the NNSA Administrator and the Under Secretaries of Energy and Science. To promote this relationship and to obtain feedback on issues related to health, safety, environment, and security, HSS senior management conducts visits throughout the DOE complex and meets with Program and Site Offices, contractor management, and union representatives, as well as, other Federal agencies, industry, academia and other DOE stakeholders.

In March 2006 HSS formed the Health, Safety and Security Managers Focus Group to solicit, discuss, and address topics and issues of interest to DOE managers and stakeholders to further the improvement of health, safety, environmental, and security performance within the Department. The HSS Focus Group has met with, and continues dialogue and exchange, with Program Secretarial Offices, DOE stakeholders and Labor Unions in this effort. In addition, the HSS hosts a Visiting Speaker Program which draws leaders from academia, business, public and private enterprise, and other organizations with interests similar to DOE to present on topics such as organizational theory, the business model of sustainability, resilience in challenging circumstances, and issues of global importance.

The HSS Public Outreach Website has been designed to provide quick access to information related to HSS initiatives, activities, events, documents and collaborative enterprises as they relate to health, safety, security and the environment.