Safety and Security Enforcement Program

Office of Enforcement and Oversight

	What's New:
	» 2013 DOE Safety and Security Enforcement Workshop Registration
	» Nuclear Safety Enforcement Letter issued to Los Alamos National Security, LLC
	» Worker Safety and Health Regulatory Assistance Review at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
	» Security Enforcement Regulatory Assistance Review of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC
	» Nuclear Safety Enforcement Letter issued to B&W Pantex, LLC
	» Worker Safety and Health Enforcement Letter issued to Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

About Us

The Office of Health, Safety and Security's Office of Enforcement and Oversight is responsible for enforcing Federal regulatory requirements pertaining to worker safety and health, nuclear safety, and classified information security programs at Department of Energy (DOE) sites. The United States Congress mandated that the Secretary of Energy promulgate these requirements in order to provide assurance that workers are protected from hazards in the workplace, the potential danger to life and property from the operation of DOE nuclear facilities is minimized, and classified matter is protected from disclosure to sustain our national security. These mandates are reflected in amendments to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 in sections 234A (nuclear safety), 234B (classified information security), and 234C (worker safety and health). DOE is authorized to levy civil penalties in accordance with these sections against DOE contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers that are indemnified under section 170d of the Atomic Energy Act.

The Office of Worker Safety and Health Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the requirements in 10 C.F.R. Part 850, Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program, and 10 C.F.R. Part 851, Worker Safety and Health Program. These requirements are founded largely upon longstanding Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements contained in 29 C.F.R. Part 1910, Occupational Safety and Health Standards, and Part 1926, Safety and Health Regulations for Construction. Appendix B to Part 851 provides the General Statement of Enforcement Policy pertaining to the Worker Safety and Health Enforcement Program.

The Office of Nuclear Safety Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the requirements in 10 C.F.R. Part 830, Nuclear Safety Management (Subpart A: Quality Assurance Requirements and Subpart B: Safety Basis Requirements), and 10 C.F.R. Part 835, Occupational Radiation Protection. This office is also authorized to take enforcement action against a contractor that violates the provisions of 10 C.F.R. Part 708, DOE Contractor Employee Protection Program, which provides procedures for processing complaints from DOE contractors alleging retaliation for the disclosure of certain information, including information concerning danger to public or worker health or safety. Title 10 C.F.R. Part 820, Procedural Rules for DOE Nuclear Activities, provides the procedural rules for the Nuclear Safety Enforcement Program, and Appendix A to the rule provides the General Statement of its Enforcement Policy.

The Office of Security Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the requirements in 10 C.F.R. Part 1016, Safeguarding of Restricted Data, and 10 C.F.R. Part 1045, Nuclear Classification and Declassification, and other requirements invoked by 10 C.F.R. Part 824, Procedural Rules for the Assessment of Civil Penalties for Classified Information Security Violations. Unlike the other enforcement disciplines, many of the requirements that can be enforced by the Office of Security Enforcement are contained in DOE directives and National Nuclear Security Administration Policy Letters (NAPs) rather than Federal regulations. The current list of enforceable directives and NAPs is available on the Office of Security Enforcement's web site. Appendix A to Part 824 provides the General Statement of Enforcement Philosophy for the Security Enforcement Program.

The Office of Enforcement and Oversight's Safety and Security Enforcement Process Overview provides additional detail on how the DOE Safety and Security Enforcement Program is administered and implemented. The Overview document as well as a new companion document, the Safety and Security Enforcement Coordinator Handbook, also provide information regarding DOE's expectation that contractors self-identify and self-report noncompliances with regulatory requirements. Noncompliances with classified information security requirements are required to be reported to the Safeguards and Security Information Management System in accordance with mandatory reporting requirements contained in DOE directives. For worker safety and health and nuclear safety noncompliances, DOE expects contractors to voluntarily report noncompliances that meet certain criteria into the Noncompliance Tracking System. For an introduction to our enforcement program, consult the Enforcement Process Overview, the Enforcement Coordinator Handbook, and the Enforcement Process Overview Course slides.

The Office of Enforcement and Oversight also conducts Regulatory Assistance Reviews to evaluate contractor programs for self-identifying, evaluating, reporting, and correcting noncompliances. These reviews are intended to assist contractors in ensuring that they have established effective processes for monitoring safety and security performance and compliance that will preclude the need for enforcement action.