After Injury at DWPF, DOE Seeks Improvements
The Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security this week noted several issues as a result of an investigation into a shoulder injury last year suffered by a Savannah River Remediation worker. The injury occurred in March 2013 at the Defense Waste Processing Facility during replacement of an 81-pound check valve and resulted in tear of the left shoulder cuff, requiring surgical repair and resulting in the employee’s work being impacted 75 days. “The event revealed that due to several deficiencies in implementing the SRR ergonomic program, SRR did not adequately identify and abate the hazards of lifting the check valve during planning, approval and performance of the work, including considering whether the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists weight limits were applicable,” states an April 10 letter to SRR released this week.
While the DOE Office of Enforcement noted that several “potential violations” of Department regulations had occurred, it declined to take enforcement actions. “The Office of Enforcement and Oversight has elected to exercise enforcement discretion and not pursue further enforcement activity at this time. SRR, in coordination with the Savannah River Operations Office, should consider the information contained in this letter as a means to improve worker safety and health program performance and reduce the potential for worker injuries,” the letter states. SRR did not immediately respond to request for comment this week on the letter.
