Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Safety Short program wins Department of Energy Innovation Award

Laboratory recognized for “outstanding industry performance”

LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, October 7—Los Alamos National Laboratory received the U.S. Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program’s Innovation Award for its Safety Short program of videos, fliers, and posters at a recent DOE-VPP conference in Orlando, Florida.

Los Alamos was honored for “Outstanding industry performance and leadership in furthering the advancement of the principles of the Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program.”

During the DOE-VPP assessment of Los Alamos, the Safety Short program and videos were recognized as “Best-in-Class” and helped to contribute to the Lab’s receiving its VPP Merit status, said Bethany Rich, VPP lead for the Lab’s Environment, Safety, and Health Integration Office.

As part of its VPP Merit status, Los Alamos will share its Safety Short program, which is themed “Taking care of ourselves and each other . . . at work and at home,” with other DOE sites, said Rob Nicholas of the Lab’s Industrial Hygiene and Safety Division, who directed and wrote the videos.

The Lab’s Safety Short products address practices that promote the well-being of every Lab worker throughout each day, both at work and at home.

The videos have earned several other honors, including the International Telly Awards, the International Summit Creative Awards, and the Aegis Awards. The two most recent videos, “Being Human — What Happens Before Mistakes?” and “Stairs and Handrails,” received 2010 Telly Awards.