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NIST Safety Update

Richard F. Kayser

NIST Chief Safety Officer

NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology

Gaithersburg, MD

June 11, 2013
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Agenda

• NIST Safety Metrics

• Top-Priority IRIS Issues

• OU Safety Goals 

• Shared Standard of Safety Performance

• Discussion
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FY13 OSHA Recordable and DART Cases

DART case – Recordable cases involving Days Away 

from Work, Restricted Work, or Job Transfer

OSHA recordable case – To a first approximation, an 

injury requiring medical treatment beyond first aid.

Data shown is through May 31, 2013
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FY13 Total Injury Cases and OSHA Recordable Cases

Data shown is through May 31, 2013

OU Total FY13 

injury cases

Total FY13 injury 

cases involving 

employees

New injury cases 

reported over 

the past month

New injury cases 

reported over the 

past month involving 

employees

Total FY13 

known OSHA 

recordables

Total FY13 known 

OSHA recordables 

involving employees

New, known OSHA 

recordables reported 

over the past month †

New, known OSHA 

recordables reported 

over the past month 

involving employees †

00 - DO 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

13 - MR 3 3 1 1 1 1 0 0

15 - OSHE 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

16 - OFRM 5 5 3 3 1 1 0 0

17 - OWM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

18 - OISM 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

19 - OFPM 19 19 2 2 11 11 2 2

40 - IIS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

45 - BPEP 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

47 - TIP 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

48 - HMEPP 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

60 - LP 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

61 - NCNR 4 3 0 0 1 1 1 1

62 - CNST 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

63 - MML 6 4 1 1 0 0 0 0

68 - PML 4 3 0 0 1 1 0 0

73 - EL 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

77 - ITL 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 0

Totals 49 44 8 8 16 16 3 3

† These new cases may be one of the following: (1) a new injury case reported over the past month that was immediately identified as an OSHA recordable or (2) a previously 

reported injury case that now meets the definition of an OSHA recordable.
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 Event – what led to the injury

 Part of body – what body part/system was injured

 Nature of injury – what happened to that body 

part/system

 Source of injury – what “object” caused the injury

Event that led to injury

Number of 

"injury" incidents 

reported in IRIS for 

this type of event

Number of "injury" 

incidents reported in IRIS for 

this type of event which are 

OSHA recordables

% of "injury" incidents 

reported in IRIS for this 

type of event which are 

OSHA recordables

% of all OSHA 

recordables which 

are due to this type 

of event

Event 

code

General nature of injury as a result of the 

event

Slips, trips, and falls 23 9 39% 26% 4XXX Fractures, sprains, cuts, bruises

Struck by 19 6 32% 18% 62XX Contusions, lacerations, bruises

Struck against 11 4 36% 12% 63XX Contusions, lacerations, bruises

Overexertion (pushing/pulling/turning) 6 4 67% 12% 71XX Strains, sprains

Overexertion (bending/stepping/twisting) 8 3 38% 9% 73XX Strains, sprains

Insect bite/sting 5 3 60% 9% 13XX Reaction

Caught in or compressed 2 1 50% 3% 64X Fractures, sprains, bruises

Chemical exposure 2 1 50% 3% 5544 Chemical burn, respiratory symptoms

Bacteria exposure 1 1 100% 3% 55 Unknown

Electrical shock 1 1 100% 3% 51XX Electrical shock

Repetitive motion 1 1 100% 3% 72X Sprain

Rubbed against 9 0 0% 0% 66X Lacerations, bruises

Contact with 2 0 0% 0% 69 Abrasions, bruises

Thermal burn 2 0 0% 0% 533 Thermal burn

Cryogenic burn 2 0 0% 0% 534 Cryogenic burn

Needle stick 1 0 0% 0% 61 Puncture

Nanoparticle exposure 1 0 0% 0% 5548 Unknown

Pedestrian vehicular accident 1 0 0% 0% 24xx Fracture

97 34 35%

 75% of all OSHA recordables due to these types 

of events

 Take actions to reduce the numbers of incidents 

in these categories across NIST

 Track and provide regular updates on progress

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Data shown is FY12 and FY13-Q1

Top-Priority IRIS Issues
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Incident-Reduction Efforts

• Strategies

– Create a culture of vigilance

– Practice safe behaviors

– Eliminate or mitigate workplace 

hazards

• Integrate operational controls into the 

safety management system

• Tactics

– Educate staff

– Increase staff awareness

– Engage staff

• Identify and engineer out, eliminate, 

mitigate, or report hazards

– Leverage other initiatives

• Objective: Reduce the occurrence of the most common 

types of incidents that result in OSHA recordables

─ Slips, trips, and falls

─ Struck by / struck against

─ Overexertion 
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OU Safety Goals

• Improve housekeeping (NCNR) 

• Reduce the occurrence of slips trips, and 

falls (CNST)

• Improve chemical safety (legacy chemicals, 

proper labeling, satellite accumulation 

areas) (MML)

• Improve general housekeeping and egress 

in the labs (PML)

• Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of 

the hazard-review process (EL)

• Improve ergonomics (ITL)

• Eliminate slips and minimize slip hazards 

(BPEP)

• Address the findings and recommendations 

of MR special review (OSHE)

• Improve housekeeping and ergonomics 

(OFRM)

• Improve housekeeping (OWM)

• Address the findings and recommendations 

of MR special review (OISM)

• Improve job-hazard-analysis process 

(OFPM)

Objective for each OU:

• Identify a specific area of need for improvement or attention that 

touches on the behaviors and attitudes of a wide variety of staff

• Include in OU Director’s FY 2013 performance plan
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Identify existing 

common safety issues

Communicate 

common safety issues 

and solutions

Monitor conditions in 

NIST spaces

Track progress on 

eliminating common 

safety issues

Identify new common 

safety issues of 

concern

Key Principles

• The “Shared Standard” is owned by 

Leadership.

• Designed to be flexible to meet the needs 

of different operations.

• Designed to be integrated into the planned 

Workplace Inspection Program. 

• Performance-based.

Monitor conditions in NIST spaces

• Active senior leadership presence

o Periodic, focused walkthroughs

o Integration with Management 

Observations

o Integration into routine management 

activities

o One or more of the above, or alternatives

Shared Standard of Safety Performance – Concept
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Shared Standard of Safety Performance – Common Issues

Categories :

• Housekeeping, e.g.,

o Blocked panels & emergency equipment

o Tripping hazards

• General Room Conditions, e.g.,

o Fire barriers

o Lighting

o Equipment certifications

• Chemicals and Wastes, e.g.,

o Labeling

o Containment

• Electrical Safety, e.g.,

o Extension cords

o Surge protectors

• Work Practices, e.g.,

o Ergonomic stressors

o PPE usage
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Discussion
VCAT Observations – February 2013

• A culture change toward safety is well underway at NIST. It is moving from 

the “design-build” phase to one of continual improvement. 

• While NIST has made substantial progress in developing a positive safety 

culture, the NIST recordable incident data do not yet demonstrate a clear 

downward trend. 

• The underlying driver of the incidents appears to be high frequency, lower 

consequence events (rather than low frequency, higher consequence 

events). 

– This observation may point to a need for an approach to prevention and 

education activities within the safety system that emphasizes the prevention 

of more routine incidents such as slips, trips, and falls; body parts struck by or 

against objects; and ergonomics, including various types of overexertion. 
VCAT Recommendations – February 2013

• NIST’s safety goal should be zero accidents. The VCAT encourages continued recognition of and 

reward for safety improvement. 

• The VCAT recommends continued “grand rounds” audits of individual laboratory rooms led by 

senior, trained NIST executives. 

• The VCAT recommends that NIST set a firm target for improvement in each OSHA recordable 

statistic. 

• The VCAT urges the NIST Director to distribute and discuss IRIS statistics each reporting period. 

Based upon these reports, NIST leadership should identify top priority IRIS issues and action plans 

to reduce occurrence. Progress will be reviewed as a standing agenda item at the beginning of each 

VCAT meeting. 

• The VCAT recommends that NIST concentrate its investigation time and reports on OSHA recordable 

incidents. 

• The VCAT strongly urges increased “transparency” on all safety metrics, including easily accessible 

identification of the exact stage at which any non-closed IRIS cases are at any time.