Mentors for Engineering, Science, Computing Sought

Sixteen applicants to the High School Student Research Participation Program at Berkeley Lab are available at no cost to a hosting group for six-week summer internships, starting June 30 and ending Aug. 11. Contact Rollie Otto (X5325) or Joe Crippen (X5816) in the Center for Science and Engineering Education if your group could host a student this summer. Berkeley Lab received almost 300 applications for the internship program. CSEE will have the largest high school summer program since it was established in the 1990's.

Summer Student Influx
Will Shut Badge Office

The Badge Office will be closed on Monday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the yearly badging of the summer students in programs sponsored by the Center for Science and Engineering Education (CSEE). More than 80 undergraduates and faculty will be checking in.

IT Division Outage
Limits Sunday Service

Get Your Fire Safety
Permit Before 'Hot Work'

Where we are now: In January 2006, in response to a number of near-misses and worrisome incidents, a safety peer review team was invited to the Lab, where they met with a wide variety of people from senior Lab leadership to students. The Peer Review identified a number of areas where we could improve to ensure the safety of each Lab employee and guest. Since then, Howard Hatayama, Acting Director of EH&S, his staff, and other Lab employees have been working on a Corrective Action Plan. We are now ready to jump-start the plan.

The Key Finding: The crucial weakness identified by the Peer Review was communication. One Lab employee had told the committee that while safety was a high priority at the Lab, it did not appear to be a deeply-held value. Supervisors and PIs were reportedly not as effective as they needed to be in communicating to staff that we all must “walk the walk,” not just “talk the talk.”

Supervisors and PI’s: What should I, as the PI or supervisor, now be doing? First, have you talked to each member of your staff, including post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduates, about your expectations from them regarding safety? Have you made your workplace an open environment where everyone feels free to raise safety concerns? Training is important—have you discussed with them their particular training needs and made sure they have received the proper training before starting work? Are you regularly looking around the laboratory and office space under your control and taking action to ensure a tidy and safe workplace?

Most importantly, have you thought about how to manage your project’s schedule so that your employees remain safe? One concern the Peer Review team heard was that employees sometimes hesitated to raise a safety concern because the work schedule might slip—that’s both wrong and ultimately self-defeating.

Individuals: What should I, as an individual, now be doing? The Lab’s Integrated Safety Management plan (ISM) lays it out: 1) Plan what you're going to do; 2) Determine the hazards and impacts; 3) Take precautionary measures;  4) Do the work within the precautions; and 5) Change the precautions or the work if needed to be safer.

Ask yourself: have I had the proper training to do the tasks assigned to me? Before I start, do I know what can go wrong? Do I know how to “stop work” if I see an unsafe condition? If you’re not sure of the answer to any of these questions, stop, contact your supervisor, and get help. Finally, are you looking out for the safety of others? In our collaborative work environment, you are only as safe as your teammates.