VCAT October 2019

Status of Safety at NIST

• Safety Management System Assessments

• FY19 Metrics

• Incident and Near Miss Data

• Leading Indicators

• Strengths and opportunities

• Plans for FY20
Safety Management System: Occupational Safety and Health, Environmental Management, Fire and Life Safety 

Radiation Safety (SNM 362 license and Ionizing Radiation Producing Machines)

NIST Directives Management System: Policy (Director’s Commitment)  Order (Roles, Responsibilities, Requirements)  Suborder (Technical Requirements)

Office of Safety Health and Environment
Safety Management System: FY19 Internal Assessments

Safety suborders contain technical and operational details of safety management 

system, regulatory requirements and include information on safe work practices.

1. FY19 OSHE internal assessment of the Safety Management System with 

respect to regulatory compliance

• Occupational Safety and Health

• Fire Protection and Life Safety

• Environmental Management

2. FY19 OSHE internal assessment of Safety Management System against 

elements of ISO 45001:2018

Results: Revised list of planned suborders is comprehensive with respect to 

regulatory requirements and newly issued ISO 45001-2018. Reduce total 

number of planned programs and supplement with Fact Sheets and Guides

54%

13%

33%

Effective

CY 2019

CY 2020-

2021
2018-2019 Radiation Safety Program Assessments, Audits and Inspections

NIST Director and Associates are briefed annually on the Radiation Safety Programs by the RSOs and Ionizing Radiation Safety Committee Chair

NRC Routine Inspection of the SNM-362 license was conducted in FY19

• A very thorough inspection was performed, included NCNR material use locations as well as Building 245 

• Findings: None

• All self-identified violations from previous inspections closed

Colleagues from the National Institutes of Health performed an audit in FY18 

• 1 finding, refuted based on version of applicable standard and ALARA considerations

• 13 observations were suggestions for improvement; GRSD has developed a corrective action plan for these

In progress: CY19 IRSC Assessment of Gaithersburg Radiation Safety Program radioactive waste handling, disposal, associated procedures and records

Boulder Radiation Safety Program undergoes an internal audit each year by the Boulder RSO; external audit planned for FY20

Reviews of the Gaithersburg and Boulder X-ray Programs were conducted in FY19; results were generally favorable and the final report expected soon
FY19 NIST Incident and Near Miss Data

Type Number of Cases # of Affected 

Staff

OSHA 

Recordable 

Cases

Injury 66 66 18

Illness* 2 20 8

Exposure 7 12 NA

Near Miss 40 NA NA

Property Damage 20 NA NA

Spill/Release 2 NA NA

Contamination by 

Radioactivity 1 NA NA

Other 9 NA NA

Walking / 

Running, 23, 

34%

Manual Material 

Handling, 13, 20%

Using Door / 

Turnstile, 6, 9%

Fabrication, 5, 

8%

Office Work, 4, 

6%

Maintenance 

(Facilities), 4, 

6%

Labwork / 

Research, 4, 6%

Miscellaneous, 

7, 11%

FY19 Injuries by Activity Type (66 injuries)

*Illnesses: 7 exposure to mold, 1 standard threshold shift
FY19 NIST Injury Data: Injury Type and Event Type

Cuts / 

Lacerations, 15, 

23%

Bruises/Contusio

ns, 23, 35%

Sprains/Strains, 

18, 27%

Miscellaneous, 3, 

4%

Fracture, 3, 5%

Abrasions, 2, 3%

Burn, 2, 3%

FY19- Injury Numbers

by Injury Type

STF, 22, 33%

Struck By, 20, 

30%

Struck Against, 

10, 15%

Overexertion, 

7, 11%

Fall From 

Height, 3, 5%

Burn, 2, 3%

Insect Bite, 1, 

1%

Shock, 1, 2%

FY19 - Injury Numbers

by Event Type
27

24

22

16

14

13

11

9

6

5

4

4

3

3

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

SAFETY EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM

WALKING/WORKING SURFACE PROGRAM

HAZARD REVIEW

CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

ELECTRICAL SAFETY PROGRAM

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)

MATERIAL HANDLING PROGRAM

FLEET SAFETY PROGRAM

OFFICE SAFETY PROGRAM

NON R AND D CONTRACTOR SAFETY PROGRAM

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE PROGRAM

FIRE PROTECTION AND PREVENTION PROGRAM

LADDER SAFETY PROGRAM

CHEMICAL WASTE ACCUMULATION/DISPOSAL AT NIST 

GAITHERSBURG PROGRAM

FY19 - Most Frequently Tagged Safety Programs

Information provided to 

OSHE program managers to 

review and look for possible 

program improvements 

Information also presented 

at and Executive Safety 

Committee meetings

These data inform incident 

reduction campaigns
Incidents: Benchmarking OSHA Total Recordable Cases with DOE and Industry

NIST and DOE Labs FY17 TRC FY17 

DART

FY18 

TRC

FY18 

DART

FY19 

TRC

FY19 

DART

NIST 1.17 0.5 0.90 0.28 0.91 0.31

Argonne East 1.05 0.41 0.84 0.34 0.61 0.25

Lawrence Livermore National 

Laboratory

1.37 0.55 1.81 1.06 1.28 0.59

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge

0.63

1.12

0.20

(0.96)

0.58

1.71

0.16

0.68

0.48

0.42

0.26

0.42

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center 1.16 0.78 1.42 0.92 0.88 0.35

Testing laboratories 1.3 0.7

Analytical Laboratory Instrument 

Manufacturing 1.2 0.7

Semiconductor and electronic 

component manufacturing 1.2 0.6

State Colleges, Universities 1.8 0.8

NIST TRC and DART rates are 

comparable to those of DOE labs 

and similar industry sector peers
Leading Metrics: Hazard assessments, Inspections, Corrective Actions, and Training

Approved hazard reviews in MML HRA system (as of 10/13/19) 2,555 (897 P.I.’s)

Number of inspections conducted (FY17-FY19) >12,100

Workplace inspection deficiencies abated (FY17-FY19) >7500 + 201

Incidents and near misses reported (FY17-FY19) 470

Corrective actions implemented to prevent incidents (FY17-FY19) 235

Number of courses completed by NIST employees and associates (as of 9/23/19) >41,100
Leading Metrics as Percentages

Percentage of NIST employees and associates who completed NIST General Safety Training

(213 Feds and 217 Associates did not complete the course)

86%

Percentage of labs in MML HRA System with approved and in-progress hazard reviews

(>500 labs without hazard reviews, total that require HRAs not specified)

73%

Percentage of workplace inspections deficiencies closed during the past two years

(>2,000 items open)

80%

Percentage of corrective actions associated with incident investigations closed 

(n=23 actions open)

90%
Communication: Metrics and Information to NIST Leadership and Management

Incidents: Weekly reports to the NIST Director’s Office contain details of incidents and near misses

Incident Metrics: CSO presents to NIST Leadership Board at monthly meetings

Incident corrective actions: Quarterly reports to OU Directors

MML Hazard Review System: Weekly reminders to supervisors of outstanding reviews and approvals

Workplace Inspection Reporting System: Supervisor receives monthly reminders to close deficiencies

Safety Matters Newsletter: Topics include information on recent incidents, product recalls, new safety programs, monthly

Updates on safety management system and metrics at Executive Safety Committee meetings every 6 weeks 

Annual Reviews of General Safety, Radiation Safety, Environmental Management for NIST Director’s Office
Safety Program Strengths

Safety Culture 

Leadership is committed to safety excellence at NIST

Managers are committed to protecting workers and ensuring the safety of workspaces

Safety Management System: Plan is comprehensive with respect to ISO 45001 and applicable regulatory requirements

Risk Assessments: Staff members participate in hazard identification, mitigation and risk assessment for work activities 

Inspections: A robust inspection process is in place, collaboration between technical and safety staff, >8,000 deficiencies for

workplace inspection have been corrected since the program launched in 2016

Incidents: Rates are comparable to other similar federal labs and comparable sectors, and corrective actions to address incidents are 

completed in a timely manner
Opportunities for Improvement

Safety Culture: Engagement is lagging; 73% of Gaithersburg and 67% of Boulder staff believe safety culture is improving 

Safety program implementation flags after initial program launch 

Safety Management System: 2/3 completed

OSHE website and tools: Access to safety information needs improvement (58% of staff believe programs are easy to understand and 66% 

believe tools are easy to use)

Safety metrics: need improvement in ease of use, access to data

Risk assessment: Risk is assessed for activities via hazard assessments, but not for incidents, inspections and other data

Inspections: Improvement in timeliness of closing out inspection deficiencies; >2000 open deficiencies, 180 serious 

Ageing Infrastructure and Contractor Safety – Associated with potentially serious incidents
Safety Culture

• Safety Climate Assessment– Internal survey

• Safety Day– Leadership Involvement and Commitment

• Management Safety Observation Visits– Revised program and tools 

Access to Safety Information 

• New website with information in easy access HTML format

• Use of fact sheets to quickly convey key points

Safety Management System

• Occupational Safety Programs: Fall protection; Crane Safety; Contractor Safety; Electrical Safety

• SMS Programs : Management Review; Corrective and Preventive Action

• Data analysis : Shift to risk-based metrics for incidents, workplace inspection and other data

Assessments and Benchmarking

• Other government agency comparisons CDC and DOE Lab Visits planned

• Internal Assessments of Individual programs by safety program managers

Partnership with Office of Facilities and Property Management to address ageing infrastructure and facilities safety

FY20 Plans