Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson
WC Monitor
2/28/2014
Labor union officials are so far taking a wait-and-see stance toward the Department of Energy’s recently announced plans for reorganizing its health, safety and security functions, though the anticipated role going forward of DOE’s current Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer, Glenn Podonsky, is giving organized labor representatives some comfort with the new approach. DOE is moving forward with dissolving its current Office of Health, Safety and Security, and creating a new set of senior-level security-related positions, as well as a separate oversight-and-enforcement capability, with much of the responsibility for safety- and security-related policy development to be moved to the Office of the Under Secretary for Management and Performance (WC Monitor, Vol. 25 No. 6). “We haven’t seen exactly how this is going to roll out, we haven’t seen exactly who will have responsibility for what. The fact that Glenn and HSS people we dealt with are still going to be heavily involved give us some comfort but until we actually see how this works out, the jury is out,” Ron Ault, President of the AFL-CIO’s Metal Trades Department, told WC Monitor, adding, “Show me this is going to work, show me this is not going to impact worker safety and health, and I’ll be your biggest fan.”
The United Steelworkers labor union is also waiting to see how the new approach will work in practice, according to Jim Frederick, Assistant Director of the USW Health, Safety & Environment Department, who noted that DOE gave the union little information about the planned changes. “We’re still hoping to get our arms around exactly what that means for our members at the facilities. It’s certainly an important issue for our members that come to work there every day, from a variety of perspectives,” Frederick told WC Monitor, adding, “We’re not quite certain of what it looks like yet because it’s in this transition period.”
Will New Approach Improve Enforcement?
As part of DOE’s planned reorganization, a new Office of Independent Enterprise Assessments will be created that will consist of the oversight and enforcement functions currently within HSS, as well as the National Training Center. The new office will report directly to the Office of the Secretary of Energy and is set to be headed by Podonsky, whose continued role in oversight and enforcement is being welcomed by union officials. “That’s the one thing that makes us feel reasonably comfortable with the reorg. The guy that holds the hammer is the same guy that always holds the hammer,” Ault said. Bob Krul, Special Assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO Building Trades Department, told WC Monitor, “Glenn retains oversight, enforcement and training, so there doesn’t seem to be any diminishment of a safety and health culture or awareness.”
Frederick said he hoped the new office would improve how DOE performs oversight and enforcement of its safety regulations. “I’m pleased that Glenn has … the oversight and enforcement piece. I really truly hope this gives them an opportunity to really hone in on the role of enforcement in the day-to-day operations of those facilities,” he said. “Our hope is this provides an opportunity for Glenn and the staff working under him on those pieces to improve the enforcement capacity at DOE. That’s been that I think we’ve certainly raised the question of whether or not there were enough resources in enforcement to do the work they needed to be doing.”
Will Safety Get Reduced Visibility?
DOE also plans to move HSS’ current offices for safety, security, and environment policy to the Office of the Under Secretary for Management and Performance, where they will be managed by Matt Moury, who will serve as acting Associate Under Secretary. Moury currently holds the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety, Security and Quality Programs in DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. “All these offices will continue to provide their expertise, guidance, and support services across the Department and will be better integrated with the Department’s programmatic functions. The Office of the Under Secretary for Management and Performance will also be responsible for headquarters security operations,” DOE said in a message to employees.
Ault expressed concern that the new approach could result in reduced visibility for safety-related issues within the Department. “Absolutely, that’s our key concern—that safety will somehow be relegated to the backseat instead of being in the driver seat,” he said. “We really want to see how this is all going to work. When you spilt up any kind of organization certainly parts to the organization are going to get more attention than others. That’s going to be our concern. When it was all under HSS, it was all looked at seamlessly. Now there’s a seam, and that’s our concern,” Ault said, adding, “Any time you dilute an organization you dilute the focus. Our concern is that safety is going to be diluted in some way, shape, or form. We’re absolutely praying that we’re wrong and we’re hoping that [Secretary of Energy Ernest] Moniz is the real deal.” Krul said, though, “If anything, it seems like Secretary Moniz is looking to have more accountability and oversight with this new structure.”
Frederick said he doesn’t want to see the new approach result in a “bilateral” approach to health and safety issues. “If there’s an issue, concern or challenge that needs to be addressed, that we don’t have to address through one system with the Under Secretary’s office … versus an entirely different process to try to address it via enforcement and oversight,” he said. “If two separate systems [are created] that don’t work well in concert or in parallel that can be managed from a person that comes to work at the Department of Energy’s perspective, it will be a failure because they’ll understand one system and not the other or neither. Or if they do understand both, it will be an extraordinary amount of time to [address] health and safety issues.”
