After multiple incidents and two recordable injuries this spring, the prime contractor has tried a “safety stand-down” for both surface and underground work at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to a safety board report.
Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, made up of Bechtel and subcontractor Los Alamos Technical Associates, took the move after recent problems at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said in a report dated May 3.
The DNFSB document did not specify when the safety pause started or ended. WIPP officials did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment. Salado started its current $3-billion contract at WIPP in November 2022.
The one-page staff report, recently posted on the DNFSB website, said Salado went six months, or until April, without a recordable injury.
Then came multiple mishaps within a month’s time, DNFSB said.
Two caused unspecified injuries: “a fire in a mop bucket located outdoors near a welding facility, and a drop of the tail end of a hoist rope approximately 15 feet onto the facility floor while replacing it,” according to the board.
To rectify things, Salado paused work throughout the site, requiring all crews to attend safety sessions, DNFSB said. Salado management “identified safety cultural factors contributing to the incidents and plans to perform an internal review,” DNFSB said. The board said it will continue to monitor the WIPP contractor’s safety efforts.
“After six months of performing more than 1.4 million safe work hours without a recordable injury, we conducted a series of stand-down meetings to refocus everyone on our WIPP safety culture and re-emphasize the importance of safe workplace behaviors,” a Salado spokesperson said in a Tuesday evening email. “There were two separate injuries recorded, a knee and shoulder injury, each from a slip, trip or fall. Both employees returned to work shortly after each incident.”