The estimated risks are used to establish the levels of review and line management authorization. However, in order to allow the researcher to categorize activities or hazards consistently, additional guidance may be necessary in the LIRs. Guidance and examples for selecting the frequency category for the types of research tasks normally performed would be beneficial as would guidance for determining consequences. For example, the guidance could define the risk category for potential scenarios such as a fall from a height of 6 feet, a radiation exposure of 50 rem, or work in a glovebox containing gram level quantities of plutonium. The LIRs could benefit from more emphasis on the effective use of integrated teams to plan work.
Planning is done routinely in a serial manner.
The LIRs could benefit from additional guidance on how to select and document the methodologies to be used for hazards analysis. If the researchers are tasked to make these decisions, they need to be provided the necessary tools. Given appropriate guidance, the researchers could develop and use their own techniques, provided they retained the documentation of the methodology. The LIRs require that each organization inventory its work activities. However, the LIRs do not specify the purpose and intended use of these inventories.