An FRIB Environmental, Health and Safety Advisory Committee (ESHAC) meeting and an external audit of NSCL-FRIB’s Environmental, Safety and Health Management System, were each conducted recently. Both resulted in favorable findings and affirmed a commitment to safety in the project and the laboratory.
The FRIB Environmental, Health and Safety Advisory Committee met on July 25-26. Donald Cossairt (chair), Radiation Protection Manager, and Jack Cassidy, Senior Safety Officer, both from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and P.K. Job, Radiation Physicist from Brookhaven National Laboratory comprised the committee. They examined the progress of the FRIB Environmental, Safety and Health (ESH) area including ESH programs and policies, regulatory requirements, and ESH integration with design activities. The committee affirmed the ESH program approach as adequate for successful project completion, including licensing and operation, and that the ESH program is on track to support an FRIB performance baseline by the end of 2011 and early civil construction in summer 2012.
An external audit of the Environmental, Safety and Health (ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001) Management System was conducted August 1-3. The audit resulted in a recommendation for continued certification of the Environmental, Safety and Health management systems. This audit was conducted by Gordon Bellen and Charles Simpson of National Sanitation Foundation, a world leader in standards development, product certification, education, and risk-management for public health and safety. The environmental management system has been ISO 14001 registered since 2006, with the addition of the safety management system registration in 2007. OHSAS 18001 is a management tool that establishes the requirements for an effective safety management system. This tool was developed to help companies control safety risks and improve overall performance. ISO 14001 is a management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, and to improve its environmental performance continually.