Safety Update

Work Planning/Integrated Safety Management

July 2, 2007

Andrew Ackerman
NSLS ESH/Q Manager
ackerman@bnl.gov

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The May shutdown was a good test of our work-planning program. Although likely transparent to many of our users, considerable work was completed within the X-ray tunnel, in the Booster cave, and at the VUV transport line shutter. We moved several thousand pounds of lead and concrete in a short time with care and attention to the personnel exposure risk, control of dust, and the need to maintain the configuration of this important radiation-shielding material. Work in the X-ray tunnel and the Booster was expected and therefore planned ahead, but the VUV shutter was a surprise and so included some extra urgency. However, that did not stop us from applying the needed precautions and assuring that everyone was communicating. The result: no overexposure to lead, noise, or silica; no injuries; the shielding is well placed; and we kept close to the planned schedule.

In the spectrometer cave that served operation of X5, concrete blocks had to be removed with power tools and layers of lead sheet had to be stripped from the cave walls.

In the X-ray tunnel, we removed the spectrometer cave that served operation of X5 for more than 15 years. That sounds easy enough, but it turned out to be a difficult task. Concrete blocks had to be removed with power tools and layers of lead sheet had to be stripped from the cave walls. There was plenty of concrete dust, which required use of a HEPA vacuum, hanging plastic enclosures, and sticky step-off pads. The plan included “hold points” that were exercised as workers encountered oxidized lead sheet and concrete block secured with epoxy. Each time a concern was encountered, workers stopped to allow additional evaluation and determination of the need for respirators, hearing protection, and air sampling. We knew removal of the cave would be a challenge and our planning allowed for proper definition of the scope of work, evaluation of the hazards, and definition of the needed controls. The work proceeded within the plan, the plan changed as needed, and when complete, the project was evaluated for any lessons learned.

Work in the Booster cave was less complicated, but still involved removal and replacement of some 150 lead bricks to allow access to Booster components for troubleshooting. That effort was planned with attention to control of potential personnel exposure to airborne lead, care in handling and placement of these heavy shielding bricks, and assurance that the proper shielding configuration was preserved and even improved.

Concrete dust was controlled with the use of a HEPA vacuum, hanging plastic enclosures, and sticky step-off pads.

The last project – the unexpected one – involved removal of several hundred pounds of lead and concrete in order to expose the VUV transport line shutter for investigation of VUV injection difficulties. Although a surprise, we proceeded in a systematic manner, defining the scope as it kept changing and assuring needed attention to evaluation and control of lead exposure, electrical hazards, vacuum concerns, radiation exposure, activation analysis, shielding configuration control, and the risks associated with moving heavy objects into tight spaces. Many people in the department, with support from the BNL Safety and Health Services and Radiation Control Division, came together to work on this project. The schedule was tight as we tried to deliver user beam on time and there was uncertainty as we tried to determine what was causing injection difficulty and how to evaluate it, but we did not compromise our requirements for safety and adhered to our commitment for planning and hazard evaluation and control.

4,000 pounds of lead were moved in the Booster cave.

These successes provide good examples of how well Integrated Safety Management is implemented at the NSLS. Central to that program are our work planning and worker qualification efforts and the discussion above is a timely reminder as we approach the BNL audit of ISM scheduled for the end of August. We have a good story to tell and mature programs to display. The audit team is expected to spend time at the NSLS talking to people, and you can help by knowing how the principles and functions of ISM are incorporated into work at the NSLS. The work planning described above is part of that program, and remember, work planning for experimentation is managed through the experiment Safety Approval Form process.

Remember, “All Work is Planned.” Please go to the NSLS home page and read through the ISM Safety Moments and help us explain to the auditors how that is accomplished, and how we qualify our workers and users, how we provide feedback and balance priorities, how work is authorized to start, and how we have implemented ISM at the NSLS.

Andrew Ackerman
ESH/Q Manager