DOE Cites UT-Battelle for Violating Worker Safety and Health Regulations

The Energy Department yesterday issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to UT-Battelle, LLC, which could result in a more than $130,000 fine for violations of DOE worker safety and health regulations, according to a DOE press release. “DOE proposes civil penalty of $131,250 based on the safety significance of the violations and in consideration of [UT-Battelle] as implementation of corrective actions to prevent recurrence,” the release states. Consisting of three Severity Level I violations and one Severity Level II violation, the violations are related with “program elements” for the assessment and control of ergonomic and material handling hazards associated with a “series of events” starting in 2013 that “resulted in serious injury” to two Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) workers, the release states. Specifically, DOE cited UT-Battelle for violations of management responsibilities, hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and abatement, and manual material handling limits and training and information, according to the release. UT-Battelle is the management and operation contractor for ORNL.