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NIST Safety Update

Richard F. Kayser

Chief Safety Officer

NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology

Gaithersburg, MD

February 5, 2014
2014 CEOs Who Get It

• Awarded by the National Safety Council (NSC) to 

leaders who demonstrate a personal 

commitment to safety

• The National Safety Council in its press release:

o “Each of these leaders understands the value 

of a safe workplace, and ensures employees at 

all levels keep safety in the forefront.”

• Pat Gallagher on Why is safety a core value at 

your organization?: 

o “Safety is a core value because our mission is 

enabled by the talent and hard work of our 

employees and associates. There is no better 

way to repay their service than to do 

everything we can to ensure that they don’t 

get hurt doing their jobs.”

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Agenda

• NIST Safety Incident Metrics

• Shared Standard of Safety Performance

• Incident Reduction

o Slips, Trips, and Falls 

• Incident Investigation Backlog

• Discussion
NIST Safety Incident Metrics

Recordable case (RC) DART case

• To a first approximation, an injury • An OSHA recordable that 

that required medical treatment resulted in employee Days Away, 

beyond first aid Restricted duty, or job Transfer 

Goal = Zero

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Data through January 2014
NIST Safety Incident Metrics

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NIST Total MR LP DO IIS

FY 2011 42 28 12 1 1

FY 2012 35 22 12 1 0

FY 2013 23 16 6 1 0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

# Recordable Cases

NIST Total MR LP DO IIS

FY 2011 23 17 6 0 0

FY 2012 21 15 5 1 0

FY 2013 13 10 2 1 0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

# DART Cases
Shared Standard of Safety Performance

Key Principles

• The content of the “Shared Standard” is owned by NIST 

leadership

• Meeting the “Shared Standard” is owned by all

Communication

• Training of senior executives

• Resources for management and staff

Monitoring Conditions in NIST Work Areas

• Active senior leadership presence

o Periodic, focused walkthroughs

o Integration into routine management activities, e.g., 

management observations, laboratory visits 

o One or more of the above, or alternatives

• Integration into Workplace Inspection Program 

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Shared Standard of Safety Performance

• Trained all NIST executives on common safety 

issues at NIST

o NIST Director, Associate Directors, OU Directors, 

OU Deputy Directors

• Developed agreed-upon focus for FY14

o Eliminate tripping hazards

 Boxes, drawers, etc.

 Wires, cables, hoses, etc. 

o Use electrical cords safely

 Extension cords

 Power strips

 Surge protectors

 Uninterruptable power supplies 

o Label all chemicals properly

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X

X

X
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Incident Reduction

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• Objective: Reduce the occurrence of the most common types of 

incidents resulting in OSHA recordable cases (RCs)

• Initial focus on slips, trips, and falls (STFs)

o 37% of NIST’s OSHA RCs and 37% of NIST’s DART cases in FY 2011 – FY 2013 

were STFs

NIST RCs STF RCs

FY2011 42 19

FY2012 35 9

FY2013 23 9

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5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

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# Recordable Cases

NIST DART Cases STF DART Cases

FY2011 23 8

FY2012 21 8

FY2013 13 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

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# DART Cases
Slips, Trips, and Falls by Hazard

• Engage management and 

staff 

o Reduce or eliminate the 

number and severity of existing 

hazards

o Prevent the introduction of 

new hazards

o Reduce employee exposure or 

interaction with hazards

• Integrate operational controls 

into the safety management 

system

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Hazard # STFs % STFs

Uneven surfaces 19 24

Obstacles in 

walkways/work areas 14 18

Snow/ice 13 16

Wet/slippery indoors 11 14

Work practices 10 13

Undetermined 9 11

Elevated surfaces 3 4

Total 79* 100

Where

● Hallways (19%) ● Sidewalks (19%)

● Parking lots (16%) ● Offices (15%)

* All incidents FY 2011 through 2013 
Slips, Trips, and Falls Planned Actions

• Eliminate tripping hazards

• Raise awareness of STF hazards in general

• Eliminate other major causes of STFs at NIST 

(Office of Facilities and Property Management)

o Uneven surfaces

 Replace walkways, install ADA-compliant curbs

o Snow/ice/rain

 Implement improved snow and ice management 

plans in Gaithersburg and Boulder, apply treatment 

in front of Building 101 to improve slip resistance 

o Wet/slippery surfaces indoors

 Review and improve procedures for mopping and 

waxing floors, review training of both in-house and 

contract custodians

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Incident Investigation Backlog

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Discussion
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Backup Slides
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. 

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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.

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TRC Rate Comparisons: NIST v. DOE Labs

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DOE: Department of Energy

ORNL: Oak Ridge National Laboratory 

LBNL: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 

BNL: Brookhaven National Laboratory
DART Rate Comparisons: NIST v. DOE Labs

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Total Injury and Recordable Cases for FY 2013

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OU FY13 injury 

cases

FY13 injury cases 

involving 

employees

FY13 known 

OSHA 

recordables

00 - DO 4 4 1

13 - MR 4 4 1

15 - OSHE 1 1 0

16 - OFRM 5 5 3

17 - OWM 2 2 0

18 - OISM 4 3 0

19 - OFPM 21 20 12

40 - IIS 0 0 0

45 - BPEP 1 0 0

47 - TIP 0 0 0

48 - HMEPP 0 0 0

60 - LP 0 0 0

61 - NCNR 4 3 1

62 - CNST 3 2 0

63 - MML 15 7 2

68 - PML 6 5 2

73 - EL 3 2 0

77 - ITL 3 2 1

Totals 76 60 23