A lot of attention has been placed on Lab safety these past few months leading up to the Department of Energy Health, Safety, and Security (HSS) Review, which is currently in process.
But when the review is done and the auditors are gone, the focus on safety will not leave with them. It will continue to be a top priority for the Lab, say administrators.
The newly developed ISM Improvement Project Plan will make sure safety stays on the front page. The document chronicles the Lab’s efforts to continually manage and improve the effectiveness of its Integrated Safety Management (ISM) System. More>
Go to OurSafety for more on the Lab's safety efforts.
Members of the Department of Energy Health, Safety and Security (HSS) review team will be at Berkeley Lab all this week. Among the divisions slated for inspections are the Advanced Light Source, Life Sciences, Physical Biosciences, Chemical Sciences and Facilities. However, inspections may take place anywhere at the Lab during the review team’s visit, so all staff should be prepared. The team will use observation and interviews to assess whether employees understand what work they are authorized to do, what hazards are involved, and how to work safely. More>
[Christian Science Monitor] The hand-sized yellow objects poking up among the lush canopies at Camalie Vineyards aren’t a new variety of monster grape. They’re electronic devices that can sense soil moisture, which help manage the high cost of irrigation and improve yield. “The market is still relatively small, but the pieces are all there,” says David Culler, with Berkeley Lab’s Computational Research Division. The networks that originated in labs like his are now reliable enough that they have moved into mainstream uses in homes, buildings, factories, and the environment. More>
In The News: Rigorous Review Ahead for Underground Lab Project[Rapid City Journal] The team of scientists planning to build facilities for a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory in Lead, SD is preparing for a two-and-a-half day marathon of meetings with a national review panel starting tomorrow. The review will be held at Berkeley Lab. The review opens with a presentation by lead scientist and Lab physicist Kevin Lesko, followed by in-depth sessions on specific areas, committee discussions, and a general summary. More>
Special Event: EETD’s Van Buskirk Talks Today on ‘Super-CDM’As part of the Blum Center for Developing Economies' "Climate Change and the Poor" speaker series, Robert Van Buskirk, with Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, will give a lecture today at noon. Van Buskirk will discuss "Super-CDM: Market Transformations for Combined Solutions to Climate Change, Poverty and Health Inequity" in 290 Hearst Memorial Mining Building, located on the UC Berkeley campus. More>
The informational Weight Watchers meeting scheduled for tomorrow at noon has been moved to the Building 50 Auditorium. Details on the Lab’s reimbursement of fees for staff who participate in the next 17-week onsite Weight Watchers session will be detailed at the meeting.
The rollout date for UC’s newly revised online Sexual Harassment Prevention training course, announced in yesterday’s edition of Today at Berkeley Lab, has been moved. Supervisors and managers required to take the course at this time will receive an e-mail notice on the training from the UC Learning Center sometime during the week of Feb. 9. An announcement confirming the date will appear in TABL.
