Dr. Laurie E. Locascio

Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and 

NIST Director

NIST Safety Commission Meeting

March 9, 2023
NIST Safety Commission

James P. Bagian, M.D., P.E.

Professor of Industrial and Operations 

Engineering; Co-Director, Center for Risk 

Analysis Informed Decision Engineering

University of Michigan

Darryl C. Hill, Ph.D., MBA, CSP

Senior Vice President, Safety and Security

First Group America

David A. Hofmann, Ph.D.

Hugh L. McColl Distinguished Professor of 

Leadership and Organizational Behavior,

Kenan-Flagler Business School

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Craig A. Merlic, Ph.D.

Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Executive 

Director, The UC Center for Laboratory Safety

University of California, Los Angeles

Joseph M. Kolly, Ph.D.

Director, Transportation Innovation Center

MITRE Corporation

Allison Jones, MD, MS, 

FACOEM

Consultant, Occupational and 

Environmental Medicine

Mark Peters, Ph.D.

Executive Vice President

National Laboratory Management 

and Operations

Battelle Memorial Institute

S. Shyam Sunder, Sc.D.

(Designed Federal Official)

Director, Special Programs Office 

and Chief Data Officer

National Institute of Standards & Technology
Charge to the NIST Safety Commission

Charge to the Commission:

Assess the state of NIST’s safety culture and how effectively the existing safety 

protocols and policies have been implemented across NIST.

The Commission will evaluate:

• the quality and completeness of NIST safety directives and programs,

• the performance of safety protocols and the responses to recent incidents and near misses, and

• the impacts of the pandemic and hybrid work environment on safety.

The Commission should consider:

• perspectives of NIST staff and management, 

• NIST’s responses to significant safety-related incidents and near-misses, 

• findings from investigations and reviews of incidents, and

• implementation of corrective actions to prevent future incidents and improve safety 

performance, as well as actions taken to strengthen safety culture at NIST facilities. 
Safety Commission Subcommittees

• Hazard Reviews and Risk Assessment

• Incident Investigations, Corrective Actions, and 

Follow Up

• Safety and Culture
New Subcommittee

Charge to the Review Subcommittee:

Conduct an independent review of the draft NIST investigation report on the death 

of an experienced NIST staff member in September 2022, in a fall from an elevated 

height when part of a research structure collapsed.

The Subcommittee will assess:

• the quality and thoroughness of the incident investigation,

• the quality and thoroughness of the analysis of root causes and causal factors, and

• the applicability and robustness of the planned corrective actions. 

The Subcommittee’s written report of this independent review — and any 

recommendations for additional corrective and preventive actions for inclusion in the 

Commission’s final report — will be:

• discussed at the Commission’s third public meeting, and

• included as a standalone appendix in the Commission’s final report. 
Review Subcommittee

James P. Bagian, M.D., P.E.

Professor of Industrial and Operations 

Engineering; Co-Director, Center for Risk 

Analysis Informed Decision Engineering

University of Michigan

Darryl C. Hill, Ph.D., MBA, CSP

Senior Vice President, Safety and Security

First Group America

Joseph M. Kolly, Ph.D.

Director, Transportation Innovation Center

MITRE Corporation