A series of small but troubling safety and health issues triggered a “stop work order” by the legacy cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, federal and company managers said during an online meeting Wednesday.
Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) issued the stop work order Oct. 13, suspending most field work while safety practices are analyzed, N3B’s president and general manager Kimberly Lebak said during an online forum from the Fuller Lodge.
“We were seeing a string of incidents with the ability to affect employee safety,” Lebak said. While there were no major accidents, there were several “slips, trips and falls” during August and September, she added.
One worker also suffered “heat illness” Sept. 8 around the time N3B started digging up corrugated metal pipes from Technical Area 21, Lebak said. The employee is fine and wanted to return to the job the next day, but “we need to take this very seriously,” because if heat stroke had resulted it could cause an extended hospital stay, she added.
Such problems can be “precursor” events foreshadowing more serious accidents down the road, Lebak said. The ongoing stop work order and analysis should conclude in early November, she added.
The stoppage does not affect all field work, Lebak said. Basic safety and compliance work continues as it did this spring in the weeks when it briefly appeared Los Alamos National Laboratory might need to be evacuated due to a wildfire.
Michael Mikolanis, who oversees DOE’s Office of Environmental Management field office for Los Alamos, said N3B initiated the work stoppage “proactively” so it could get a better handle on safety practices.
