WC Monitor
1/29/2016
SRNS to Address Attrition With 2,000 Hirings in Coming Years
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) is looking to address its attrition problem over the next few years by hiring 2,000 workers with the help of partnerships with colleges and universities near the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. SRNS, the site’s management and operations contractor, announced Jan. 22 that a partnership with Aiken Technical College, in Graniteville, S.C., will aid the company in hiring qualified general production operators, radiation control personnel and mechanics in the coming years.
The effort is based on a need to fill jobs as attrition among the workforce becomes a more significant challenge, according to SRNS President and CEO Carol Johnson. In the press release, Johnson said it is no secret that a large percentage of the SRNS workforce is reaching an age at which they can retire. Her comments come after a stakeholder group, the SRS Community Reuse Organization, reported in October that 50 percent of the site’s workforce will be eligible for retirement within the next five years.
SRNS employs more than 5,000 workers, and the entire site employs about 11,800 workers, according to reports from last year. "We know the numbers of those seeking retirement will rise every year throughout the near future," Johnson said in the press release. "We’re expecting to see 2,000 plus job openings at SRNS before our hiring levels off again." Johnson added that SRNS plans to hire 80 general production workers, or operators, in 2016. The job calls for assisting in the operation of a process or equipment within a nuclear facility at SRS, including opening or closing valves, taking process samples, operating a hoist involving spent fuel casks, and taking readings within a control room.
The contractor is expecting several jobs to come through the Nuclear Fundamentals Certificate program, one launched by SRNS and Aiken Technical College. According to the school’s website, the program combines applied chemistry, physics, and engineering – all of which the college says will create opportunities for employment in modern nuclear facilities.
SRNS CEO Receives Worker Safety Award
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions President and CEO Carol Johnson has been recognized this year as one of seven CEOs who “Get It” when it comes to personnel safety.
The nongovernmental, congressionally chartered National Safety Council each year honors CEOs who promote workplace safety based on four crucial fundamentals, according to an SRNS press release: leadership and employee engagement, safety management solutions, risk reduction, and performance measurement. These provide the anchors for the council’s Journey to Safety Excellence, “a process of continuous improvement with a goal of zero harm,” the release states.
“I am honored that the National Safety Council has validated the safety leadership we strive to achieve at SRNS. Safety is a journey with no end point and this recognition reinforces that we are on the right path and must do all that we can to stay the course for the safety of SRNS employees,” Johnson said in the release.
Johnson and the other award recipients are profiled in the February issue of Safety+Health magazine. Johnson’s profile lists among her safety-related accomplishments developing a formal “Standard of Excellence” that places key safety behaviors into SRNS’ expectations and promoting transparency through monthly personnel meetings and other measures.
