Presentation on NIST Safety for the

Safety Commission, January 4, 2023

Presented by:

Liz Mackey, Ph.D., Chief Safety Officer

Director of the Office of Safety Health and Environment 
Overview of NIST Safety

 Safety Management System 

 Core Programs

 Performance Metrics

 Recent Events 

 Safety Culture at NIST 

 Risks, Opportunities, Action Plan 

OSH: Occupational Safety and Health

SMS: Safety Management System

OSHE: Office of Safety, Health and Environment

OU: Organizational Unit (Offices/MR and Labs/LP) 
Aligned with ISO 45001: Occupational Health and Safety Management System

Documented in the NIST Directives Management System

- Policy: Organizational commitments, signed by NIST Director

- Order: Roles and responsibilities

- Suborder: Regulatory and technical requirements

- Notice: Requirements (one year, maybe renewed)

Communicated in many ways

- Required training

- Briefings on new and revised safety programs

- Newsletters, safety minutes, emails

- Website content

- Discussions at meetings

NIST Safety Management System
NIST Safety Policy

Policies are signed by the NIST Director

Basic OSH Policy commitments:

- Systematically integrate safety and health into work practices

- Provide adequate resources to support safe conduct of work

- Engage employees

- Foster environment for reporting safety concerns without fear of 

retribution

- Continual improvement

- Regulatory compliance

- Communicating safety objectives

NIST OSH Policy sets the expectation for all staff, employees and associates, 

to take personal responsibility for the safety of themselves and others, and 

for making safety an integral core value and vital part of the NIST culture.
NIST Director

Associate Directors

Chief Safety Officer

OU Directors and Line Managers

Employees and Associates

NIST Order: Key Safety Roles and Responsibilities

Set safety policy, accept responsibility for safety at NIST, demonstrate 

commitment including allocating resources, ensure the SMS and associated 

roles, and responsibilities are defined, regularly review SMS, direct changes 

as necessary

Ensure SMS implementation and implement accountability in their directorate, 

participate in management review of SMS 

Develop and maintain SMS aligned with ISO 45001, ensure programs in 

place to support regulatory compliance, assign program managers

Demonstrate commitment including allocating resources, participate in 

management observations, ensure employee engagement and participation in 

hazard and risk assessment

Take personal responsibility for safety of self, others and for making safety a 

core value and integral part of NIST’s culture
Fundamental (4)

Administrative Programs 

(11) 

Technical Safety Programs (26) 

Fire and Life Safety (4)

Occupational Health & Safety Management System

Basic employee safety rights and 

responsibilities, right to report unsafe 

conditions, stop work, work 

prohibited for minors

Basic SMS requirements, e.g. training, 

incident reporting, hazard reviews, 

inspections, change management (see 

slide 7 for full list) 

Regulatory and technical 

requirements for specific subject 

areas, e.g., biosafety, cryogens, 

nanomaterials, fall protection, 

personal protective equipment (see 

next slide for full list) 
Technical Safety Programs, n=26

Biosafety Lock-Out Tag Out

Bloodborne Pathogens Magnetic Field

Chemical Hazard Communication Machine and Equipment Safety

Chemical Management Material Handling

Compressed Gas Office Safety/Ergo resources

Cryogen Safety Out of Service

Dispersible Engineered Nanoparticles Overhead Cranes and Hoists

Electrical Safety (Notice posted)* Permit-required Confined Spaces

Fall Protection Personal Protective Equipment

Hazard Signage Powered Industrial Trucks

Hearing Protection Radiofrequency and Microwave

Ladder Safety (Draft posted)* Respiratory Protection

Laser Safety Walking Working Surfaces (Draft posted)*

*Planned for deployment in FY23

Resources & Guides

Bike and Scooter Safety

COVID-19 Safety

Drone Safety

Ergonomics

Fleet Safety

Heat and Cold Stress

Microwave and 

Radiofrequency

Office Safety

Pest Control

Visitor Safety
Administrative Safety Programs (n=11)

Management Observation Process 

Safety Culture Program* (ESC approved)

Monitoring, Measurement, and Assessment* 

Document and Record Control 

- Safety Directive Creation, Deployment, Revision

Hazard Review

Safety Education and Training

Incident Reporting and Investigation

Workplace Inspection

Corrective and Preventive Actions* (Draft in OSHE)

Non-R&D Contractor Safety* (Draft in OSHE)

Management of Change* (Draft in OSHE)

*Planned for deployment in FY23/24
We start by educating staff on how to recognize and 

mitigate hazards, and meet requirements. 

We put that training into action by conducting hazard 

reviews to mitigate risk associated with work 

practices...

And by inspecting our spaces to abate hazards and fix 

non-compliances.

We report both incidents and near misses. We 

investigate these to identify causes and implement 

corrective actions to prevent future incidents with similar 

circumstances or causes.

Four Pillars of Safety: Core Programs Hazard Reviews Training Inspections Report Incidents

Safe Workplace
Safety Education and Training Program

- NIST General Safety Training is assigned 

to all new staff 

- Supervisors are responsible for ensuring 

that other courses are assigned based on 

the hazards associated with job duties, 

work locations

- NIST Leadership Training is required for all 

supervisors

- Supervisors are required to complete the 

same training as their direct reports so that 

they are aware of program requirements 

and hazard mitigation strategies

- Programs with refresher training 

requirements are re-assigned with 

specified frequency

*NIST IT Application to assign, 

complete, and record training

*
- Safety website provides 

information on program 

requirements with link to 

training

- MML IT application for 

documenting hazard 

reviews used by most labbased staff at NIST

- Short forms available for 

use for simpler tasks 

- JHAs forms are used by 

facilities staff
Hazard Review Program

- Required for work activities involving hazards beyond those found 

in a typical office

- Lead staff member for the activity analyzes the procedure to 

identify hazards, proposes mitigation using the hierarchy of 

controls, assesses the residual risk using the RHI matrix based on 

potential severity and likelihood of occurrence

- Managers review and approve work based on the procedures, 

hazard mitigations, level of residual risk. Level of review is based 

on RHI value.

- RHI=4 work is prohibited

- RHI=3 work is re-reviewed annually

- RHI=2, 1 work is re-reviewed every 3 years

- First level supervisors authorize workers based on competency and 

training

- Updated when work processes or hazards change
Workplace Inspection Program (29 CFR 1960)

- Offices are inspected annually

- Labs, shops, spaces with hazards beyond those in a typical office are inspected twice per year

- Lead inspectors are trained by OSHE staff

- The inspection team must be trained on programs that apply to hazards in the workspace

- Safety program managers provide checklists of items to be verified during inspections (optional use)

- OU notify OSHE of dates and locations of inspections, OSHE participates regularly

- Workspace inspectors identify, record and classify deficiencies in WIRS* (iPad or desktop)

- Space owners remediate deficiencies to eliminate hazards and non-compliances (within 30 days)

- Managers ensure deficiencies are addressed and close out deficiencies using WIRS*

*NIST IT Application 

to create checklists, 

record inspections, 

track abatement of 

deficiencies

*
Incident Reporting and Investigation Program 

*

*NIST IT 

Application used 

to report 

incidents and 

near misses, 

associated 

investigations, 

causes, 

corrective 

actions, and 

lessons 

identified

Incident Reporting and Investigation Program: Staff members report incidents and near misses to their supervisor. The report is 

entered into IRIS.* One or more trained investigators from the OU or OSHE lead the investigation to understand the circumstances, 

determine contributing and root causes, and develop corrective actions to prevent future incidents. Lessons identified are posted 

with the report. Managers verify that corrective actions have been completed and close them out in the Action Tracking System. All 

supervisors are subscribed to IRIS report notices.
”MOP” visits are designed to promote a safe work 

environment and continual improvement through frequent 

conversations about safety between staff and line 

managers

Each Organizational Unit must:

- Establish requirements for frequency of visits for each 

level of management

- Have a plan to cover all staff

- Track to completion any action items resulting from MOP 

visits

- Hold line managers accountable 

Management Observation Process Hazard Reviews Training Inspections Report Incidents

Management Observation Program

Safe Workplace
 Safety Management System 

 Completion status (8 remaining OSH programs planned for FY23/24)

 Implementation assessed annually by program managers (qualitative)

 Communications Data (average 70% click rates, webpage views)

 Training Data (course completion (≥80%)

 Safety Culture Survey Results (every three years)

 Workplace Inspection Data (inspections, 96% closed deficiencies)

 Incident Reporting and Investigation Data 

 Corrective Action Data (91% complete)

 Monitoring Measuring and Assessments (under development)

 Corrective and Preventive Actions (under development)

 Management Observation Visits (no associated metrics at the NIST level)

Performance Metrics and Continual Improvement

Leading Indicators

Lagging Indicators

Under Development
0

10

20

30

40

50

FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22

OSHA Recordables by Fiscal Year RC

DART

STS cases

Number of cases

OSHA Recordable Cases (RC), and Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) 

Case Numbers for each Fiscal Year

*STS= standard threshold shift for hearing loss cases

47 Total RC

37 COVID 

10 other

43 DART

36 COVID

7 other

NIST Staff report ~150 incidents 

and near misses each year
Total Recordable Case and Days Away, Restricted or Transferred Rates

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

NIST TRC and DART Rates vs NAICS Category

NAICS TRC NIST TRC NAICS DART NIST DART

NIST RC and DART rates compared with Bureau of Labor Statistics industry category for Research and Development in the 

Physical, Engineering and Life Sciences, and Dept. of Energy laboratories with similar work environments
Workplace Inspections Conducted 

Offices inspected annually, labs 

and shops, twice each year

Number of unique rooms inspected 

was 

• 3192 in FY22

• 3920 in FY19

Anticipated that in FY23 inspections 

will be similar to pre-pandemic 

numbers.

Some spaces are not occupied due 

to ongoing renovations
Deficiencies Fixed in FY22 by Hazard Type

Deficiencies fixed match those found:

1. Update General Door Sign (1)

2. Chemical Labeling (2)

3. Housekeeping (6)

4. Slips, Trips, and Falls (3)

5. Electrical Panel Clearance (5)

6. Chemical Inventory (7)

7. Chemical Storage (4)

8. Compressed Gas Inventory (8)

9. Eyewash/Safety Shower Inspection 

10.Electrical Daisy Chain (9)
COVID-19 Pandemic, February 2020 – August 2022

- Long-term decrease in on-site staffing, lower occupancy work environment

- Possible loss of safety “muscle memory”

- Focus on health, but many routine safety activities suspended/postponed

TR-5 Incident: Partial melt of reactor fuel element, Feb 3, 2021

- Staffing attrition with loss of experienced workforce played a key role

- Root causes: inadequate change management, procedures, oversight, training program, and 

safety culture

NFRL Incident: Fall from elevated structure during demolition, Sep 26, 2022 

- Under investigation by NIST and OSHA

Recent Serious Safety-Related Events
Safety Stand-down (October 7, 2022)

- Recommit to the basic NIST philosophy and policy of taking personal responsibility for 

safety of oneself and others

- Review hazardous activities and think about how to work safely

Focus on Re-Review of Hazardous Activities in FY23

- Fresh eyes, appropriate expertise, observe work practices as feasible

- Lab and Office Directors report progress to NIST Associate Directors 

Accelerate Safety Culture Survey Launch (survey start date 12/12/22)

Engage external Safety Commission to review safety program implementation 

and safety culture (January 2023)

NASEM Workshop to evaluate the effects of the post-pandemic, hybrid work on 

safety culture, practices, training, mentoring in a research lab environment

NIST Strategy and Actions To Improve Safety

Objective Strategy

Actions Evaluate
In the summer of 2022, NIST developed a safety culture program to formalize 

existing practices and add to those. This program, approved by the ESC in 

October 2022, is being deployed in FY23.

Elements of the Safety Culture Program:

1. Establish and communicate vision for safety culture

2. Develop action plan to support and achieve vision

3. Assess staff and management views (conduct survey)

4. Evaluate performance indicators of safety culture

5. Recognize proactive contributions to safety

6. Encourage participation and engagement at all levels

7. Sustain safety culture efforts through a focus on continuous improvement, 

creating a learning environment and encouraging questioning attitudes

Safety Culture Program Foundation for Safety

- Safety Climate Assessments were 

issued 2011, 2014, 2017

- A new Safety Culture Survey was 

issue by a 3rd party Dec 2022
Safety-Related Risks and Opportunities: 30,000’ View

Risks Opportunities

Ageing infrastructure 

Safety Management System is not fully 

integrated into operations

No audit or assessment program in place to 

assess safety compliance 

Safety complacency 

Prioritization of funding to address facilities issues; 

collaboration between facilities and safety

Strengthen partnerships and provide safety services in a 

manner that facilitates integration

Develop and implement Monitoring, Measurements and 

Assessment Program

Create conditions to strengthen safety culture, NIST-wide, at 

all levels

FY23 Action Plan Designed to Address Risks
Key Elements of FY23 Safety Action Plan

 Safety Management System: Program Implementation, Deployments, Tools 

 Issue and deploy 9 of the 11 remaining safety programs 

 Improve integration of safety IT applications into dashboard for ease of use

 NIST Director’s Initiative: Re-evaluate Hazard Reviews 

 Fresh eyes, observe work to ensure documentation reflects practice

 Lab and Office Directors report to Associate Directors on status

 Executive Safety Committee Initiative: Safety Culture Program

 Conduct safety culture survey

 Build safety culture expectations into training, conversations

 Increase employee engagement