REINFORCING OUR FOCUS ON SAFETY
From Safety Day to Multi-Lab Safety Week
In 2015, ATAP Deputy Division Director for Operations Asmita Patel and Division Safety Coordinator Pat Thomas first organized an entire day devoted to safety. The relatively informal 2015 pilot program was very successful, so Patel and Thomas organized a full-fledged effort in 2016. The popular annual tradition has evolved into a feature-rich weeklong event that now includes other Berkeley Lab divisions and national laboratories.
More Berkeley Lab organizations join
In 2017, Berkeley Lab’s Engineering Division joined ATAP for the annual Safety Day event. The following year, ATAP led a Physical Sciences Area-wide Safety Day with participation from the Physics and Engineering Divisions and the Advanced Light Source Upgrade (ALS-U) Project.
Safety Day evolves, adding seminars and recognition
In 2019, Safety Day expanded to include safety-themed seminars as part of ongoing learning and education. Individual and Team awards were also launched.
Transitioning to a weeklong format
Safety Day 2020 had to be called off due to the pandemic. In 2021, operating under COVID precautions, Safety Day transitioned to a Physical Sciences Area-wide Safety Week, providing flexibility to participate in all the activities. The weeklong event included three safety-themed seminars and a close-out trivia game—“Not-Jeopardy.”
Safety Week goes Multi-Lab
Safety Week was too good an idea to keep to ourselves! In 2022, ATAP led the inaugural Multi-Lab Safety Week, joined by the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider Upgrade Project at Fermilab and the Magnet Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory, with seminars and sharing of best practices from all three laboratories.
Multi-Lab Safety Week 2023 added three SAFE Workshops—guided, experiential learning opportunities focused on physical and psychological safety.
Moving safely into the future
We will continue organizing this resoundingly successful annual event. To learn more, view the annual summaries of each event below, and please contact Asmita Patel for in-depth information.
