Minutes of the Physics Division ES&H Committee

January 9, 2006

Attendees:

John Emes

Maurice Garcia-Sciveres

Kathie Hardy

Ron Madaras

Frank Rosado

Jim Siegrist

Tony Spadafora

Cathy Thompson

Marty White

Misc. Safety Info

-  Michelle Flynn: New person in charge of self assessment

-  Concern regarding IFA & MESH: Need to pay more attention to authorizations, etc.

Student Work Policy

-  Decision Tree (?)

-  Who can work alone/Who can’t: Depends on experience

-  Other than desk work, two or more people are required

-  Group leader will decide what activities are high-risk, etc.

LBNL Director’s Expectations

-  PI’s are being held responsible for safety practices in labs

-  Many safety violations: Laser locks turned off, etc.

-  All labs must be inspected by 1/20/2005

-  Michael Levi’s spaces to be walked through today – 1/9/2006

-  Much more attention will be given to safety

-  Discussion on EHS Supervisor Training

-  Responsibilities/Expectations: EH&S (Handout)

-  ES&H Daily Checklist (Developed by J. Siegrist)

-  These are activities that the PI should be doing that hasn’t been getting done

-  Try to give attention to at least one or two items per day/week

o  Check training profiles

o  JHQ Completion

o  Training course completion

o  Provide hazard comm.

o  Provide OJT

o  Discuss ES&H

Jim Siegrist Address to ESH Committee

-  Handout – “Hierarchy of Injuries”

-  Must concentrate on “near misses”

-  Why aren’t “near misses” and other accidents publicized?

-  What’s our role?

o  Need for some kind of reporting system, checklists, etc.

o  Pay attention to what’s going on with your group and their safety practices

o  Director wants to see a strengthened line of accountability

o  Walkthrough of workspaces by January 20

o  Pay attention to repeated problems

Additional Safety Comm Issues

-  Physics is still trying to work out who will turn in safety activities reports

-  Research budgets could be cut for those who continually violate safety rules

-  After hours policy will be finalized in writing

-  Safety survey/interview: Let Kathie Hardy know if any changes should be made

-  Student meeting coming up January 25