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The Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) Division led the 2024 Multi-Lab Safety Week. Held from June 11-13, 2024, this year’s theme was “Back to Basics” and saw attendees from Berkeley Lab, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) participate in seminars on laser and radiation safety, combining strategies of Integrated Safety Management, Human and Organizational Performance, and IDEA principles. It was an excellent forum to learn and share best practices from participating national labs.
Joining Berkeley Lab’s ATAP Division in the 2024 Multi-Lab Safety Week were the Accelerator Controls Operations Research Network (ACORN) Project team at FNAL, the Laser Safety Office at LLNL, and our repeat partners, the Magnet Divisions at FNAL and BNL. This collaborative effort made the event a success.
Colleagues from the national labs participated simultaneously, contributing to highly informative and insightful discussions and engaging in a meaningful exchange of ideas and best practices.
The themes for the 2024 Multi-lab Safety Week were:
Ongoing learning and education-
- Utilize the time to complete WPC training
- Attend safety-themed seminars
Housekeeping-
- Workplace cleanups and self-assessments
- Management walkthroughs and peer reviews of labs, shops, and offices
Berkeley Lab’s Deputy Laboratory Director and Chief Operating Officer, Michael Brandt, kicked off the three-day event on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, with an overview of the history and evolution of the Lab’s safety culture and how this culture adapted to pandemic conditions. One of the key messages Brandt delivered was the importance of workplace resilience and adaptability to manage and maintain a healthy safety culture.
ATAP’s Deputy Division Director for Operations, Asmita Patel, provided an overview of the evolution of Safety Day to Safety Week and how this now-annual event evolved from ATAP to include participants from multiple divisions at the Lab and other national labs.
According to Patel, the Multi-Lab Safety Week provides an opportunity for “an annual safety culture reset and a platform for highlighting the importance of Integrated Safety Management, the Lab’s Stewardship values and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accountability (IDEA) principles, and to learn and share best practices across the participating labs.”
ATAP Division Director Cameron Geddes spoke of the “importance of making safety integral to the day-to-day activities and operations at the Lab” and then outlined the aims and objectives of the 2024 Multi-Lab Safety Week.
Seminars share knowledge and lessons learned
The 2024 Multi-Lab Safety Week offered expert seminars on essential safety-related topics.
On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, LLNL’s Laser/Near Infrared Light Safety Office Lead, Jamie King, and Division Safety Coordinator for ATAP, Aaron Potash, presented an engaging seminar on the importance of laser safety in the lab.
On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, participants learned about the principles of Integrated Safety Management, Human Organization Performance, and the importance of IDEA values as part of safety culture—a team of four speakers presented on this topic. The speakers included Berkeley Lab Environment Health & Safety Division’s Human & Organizational Performance Manager, James Newman, and ATAP’s Division Safety Coordinator, Aaron Potash; FNAL EHS Division’s Work Planning and Control/Training Manager, Paul Satti; and BNL ESH Directorate’s Chief Operating Officer and ESHR Group Manager, Firoza Zanoni.
On Thursday, June 13, 2024, Berkeley Lab EHS Division’s Department Head for Environment, Waste, and Radiation Protection and Radiological Control Manager, David Kestell, and FNAL ES&H Division’s Radiation Analysis Department Head, Wayne Schmitt, presented “Best Practices in Radiation Safety.”
Presentations from the 2024 Multi-Lab Safety Week can be viewed below:
Multi-Lab Safety Week Kickoff Presentation
Seminar on Best Practices in Radiation Safety
Seminar on Back to Basics—ISM and HPI-HOPS
Seminar on Recent Laser Incidents and Lessons Learned at DOE Labs since 2022
The event closed with cross-divisional management walkthroughs of the participating labs.
Honoring our top achievers
The success of our annual Safety Week is built on an all-hands effort, but each year, some stand out for exceptional dedication and the quality of their contributions. To promote ongoing safety-culture awareness and maintain the momentum of Safety Week, we honor the top-performing team for outstanding safety and organization efforts.
Individual Award
Benjamin Greenwood, a postdoctoral scholar in ATAP’s Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center, received the individual award, which honors the person who was most helpful to others in the 2024 Multi-Lab Safety Week efforts.
According to his colleagues, Ben lived up to his reputation as a dependable year-round contributor to ATAP safety efforts. During this year’s Multi-Lab Safety Week, Ben went the extra mile cleaning and organizing the Hundred TeraWatt system, emphasizing hardware re-organization. The improved environment allows the next experiments to be conducted in a safer, cleaner, and more efficient manner.
Team Award
Team honors go to the Petawatt team in the BELLA Center for their commitment to workplace safety and outstanding work-area cleanup efforts. The team reported an urgent safety concern involving a ventilation fan that showed signs of overheating, allowing Facilities to take immediate action. They also plan to re-route network cables to eliminate a tripping hazard.
These efforts were led by Research Scientist Hai-En Tsai and included Alex Picksley, Josh Stackhouse, Raymond Li, Jared De Chant, Aodhan McIlvenny, Anthony Vazquez, Lotti Obst-Huebl, Tirtha Mandal, Mack Kath, Arturo Magana, Abdikarim Abdi, and Teo Maldonado.
Divisional management selected them for this honor after receiving final walkthroughs and reports from all the teams.
Let’s aim to maintain the momentum on Safety Week’s themes of clean and well-organized workspaces and up-to-date training and have another year of doing great science safely.
