The Department of Energy is wagging its enforcement finger at Honeywell, which manages five of its nuclear security sites, for conducting firearms training for security personnel in sweltering heat at the Kansas City National Security Campus.
On May 11, 2022, when it was 85 degrees outside, Honeywell conducted outdoor firearms training and qualification activities at a firearms range on the campus in Missouri. During training a worker suffered heat-stress-related symptoms and was taken to an air-conditioned trailer for 20 minutes but not evaluated by a medical professional, according to a June 14 enforcement letter from the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments.
A worker requested the investigation that led to the enforcement notice in August 2022. That request alleged concerns over unsafe conditions during outdoor firearms training, according to the enforcement notice, posted June 16 on DOE’s website.
A subsequent investigation found that Honeywell’s “job hazard analysis” for shooting on the firing range “did not identify hazards and controls for slips, trips and falls related to severe weather conditions and shooting-on-the-move,” the notice said.
Honeywell “lacked safe work practices for stopping outdoor firearms training and qualification activities, such as shooting-on-the-move when footing (stability) is impaired due to heavy rain, sleet, hail, or snow,” the DOE enforcement notice said.
The company also did not conduct a heat-stress assessment during the outdoor firearms training event in May 2022 “when temperature conditions exceeded the action level” based on a temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit and one or more of the following conditions: direct solar or radiant heat load, greater than 70% relative humidity, heavy or strenuous physical exertion or thick inner or outer garments, the DOE notice said.
The letter from Anthony Pierpoint, director of the enforcement office at the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments to Honeywell Presidents Eric Wollerman was to “convey concerns about Honeywell FM&T’s implementation of worker safety and health requirements.” It also “reflects DOE’s decision to not pursue further enforcement activity against Honeywell FM&T at this time,” and imposes no requirements on the company.
Honeywell and Honeywell-led teams manage five Department of Energy sites, including Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and the Kansas City and Nevada national security campuses.
