Alissa Tabirian
NS&D Monitor
12/4/2015
The Department of Energy (DOE) identified deficiencies in hazard assessment and abatement and emergency response at the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) issued earlier this month to SNL’s managing contractor, Sandia Corp.
The DOE investigated SNL’s worker safety and health program following a lithium ion battery fire in October 2012 and an “unexpected detonator initiation” at an explosives testing site in December 2013. The probe found that the first incident “was a near miss to serious injury or fatality in that during the emergency response, Sandia exposed personnel to fire combustion products,” while the second incident “caused a serious hand injury and was a near miss to serious injury or fatality because only a short time earlier, the impacted worker had handled the same detonator while it was imbedded in a one-pound block of C4 explosive.”
The letter from NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz to SNL Director Jill Hruby concluded that “Sandia did not adequately identify, assess, and abate workplace hazards, as well as respond to emergency conditions resulting from these events.” The notice highlighted several deficiencies resulting in six violations for management responsibilities, hazard prevention and abatement, emergency response, and other areas. Specifically, Sandia did not sufficiently assess the hazards of part of the building in which the fire occurred “before allowing unprotected personnel to reenter this area, which was still filled with smoke and combustion products, in an attempt to restore building power,” according to the report. It also noted that the lab did not adequately train workers who were exposed to hazards.
According to the notice, Sandia did not have the medical resources necessary during explosive device testing. During the testing incident, “non-medical” personnel transported an injured worker to the Sandia Medical Clinic and “were consequently at risk of exposure to blood without appropriate bloodborne pathogen training,” while some first aid supplies in the area were past their expiration dates, the PNOV said.
The NNSA reduced Sandia’s contract fee by $686,000 for similar violations and therefore “proposes no civil penalty for the violations,” according to the PNOV. Sandia must reply to the notice within one month to either contest the violations or accept them, in which case the PNOV would become a final order. At that point, “NNSA will determine whether any further activity is necessary to ensure compliance with DOE worker safety and health requirements,” the notice said.
Sandia spokeswoman Stephanie Holinka said by email that the laboratory has completed many of the corrective actions outlined in a plan it developed with the NNSA, “and continues to execute its Site Wide Strategy for Safety Improvement.”
“Sandia is working closely with the NNSA to ensure that we have the safest possible workplace,” she added, and “will continue to work with NNSA to learn all we can from past incidents, and improve operations that pose safety risks to prevent recurrence of similar incidents.”
