Safety in the Underground Construction and Operation of the Exploratory Studies Facility at Yucca Mountain (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Underground Operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: A True Safety Culture
Underground Operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: A True Safety Culture
Pages 85-104
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From page 85... ...
Underground Operations organization at WIPP, its achievements, and its safety culture philosophy. By successfully coordinating a variety of technical activities in compliance with requirements and regulations, the author concludes that Underground Operations has contributed significantly to the positive perception of the WIPP Project held by oversight agencies and the public.
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From page 86... ...
Westinghouse is now continuing these endeavors with its contractors and subcontractors. FOUNDATION OF A TRUE SAFETY CULTURE Introduction The WIPP Project, in southeastern New Mexico, is a DOE research and development project designed to demonstrate the permanent, safe, geologic disposal of transuranic waste resulting from U.S.
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From page 88... ...
~U~ S~ m _ . ~ o o ~1300 Rooms; '1 l ~I nr 11 11 FEET 0 10 300 600 ~ SCALE S-1 680 PANEL t ~1950 S-2180 PANEL 2 r ~_ _ PANELS |~1l~[~[l::ll~l 2J93UGD~V1 FTGURE 2 Underground test rooms and waste storage panels.
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From page 89... ...
An underground controller issues access permits based on required travel underground. The underground controller has two rovers in the underground facility who are responsible for placing barriers, ensuring the competency of barricades, and ensuring that the flow of underground travel is conducted safely.
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From page 90... ...
This ensures management timely categorization of the incident according to DOE requirements set forth in DOE Order 5000.3B, Occurrence Reporting and Processing of Operations Information. Incidents meeting the reporting requirements are investigated by a Root Cause Analysis Team.
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From page 91... ...
WID Underground Operations implements industry guidance through DOE Order 5480.19, Conduct of Operations, which provides the management and operating contractors at DOE facilities with guidance on rigorous and disciplined operations in the field. Examples include specific guidance on shift routines and operating practices, Tock-out/tag-out requirements, and operator responsibilities.
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From page 92... ...
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From page 93... ...
In its daily operations, Underground Operations strives to demonstrate to each of these organizations an attitude of cooperation, dedication to quality work, enthusiasm for the project, and a true safety culture. Department of Energy DOE's WIPP Project Site Office provides a direct counterpart for WID Underground Operations management to ensure adequate communication of customer needs and expectations, as well as to ensure that both WID and DOE are committed to the same · .
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From page 94... ...
For example, 22 experts from deep evaporite mines assisted WID in the development and validation of the yieldable support system. EVOLUTION OF A TRUE SAFETY CULTURE Like many other companies, WID is striving to develop a true safety culture.
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From page 95... ...
Holding supervisors accountable for the safety of their workers begins the evolution toward a safety culture. This integral part of Underground Operation's management philosophy emphasizes management's responsibility and offers a strong incentive to enforce safe work practices and, in effect, to protect workers from themselves.
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From page 96... ...
96 Safely in the Underground Construction and Operation of the exploratory Studies Facility TABLE ~ Waste Isolation Pilot Plant 1993 Injury/~Iness Summary Month January February March April May June July August September January February March April May June July August Septembe 2 1 o o o o o 1 First-Aid Recordable Cases Cases Waste Isolation Division, Westinghouse 2 0 3 0 3 0 3 1 3 1 5 0 2 0 Lost-time Recordable Cases Rate* o o o o o o .0 .37 .59 .48 .31 .36 .48 Subcontractors o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o .73 Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Site January Februaty March April May June July August September 4 4 2 7 6 o o o 1 1 o o o 2 *
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From page 97... ...
Supervisors continually try to obtain feedback from their workers to be better able to assess workers' needs. WID management has been successful in developing beneficial supervisor/employee relationships by carefully selecting supervisors and managers who have the capacity to encourage and enrich the safety culture.
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From page 98... ...
Therefore, perhaps the most important element of Underground Operations' management philosophy is employee development which drives commitment to safety and well-being. To support employee development, supervisors first assist their workers in defining career goals.
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From page 99... ...
The management philosophy described in Fred Ashford's paper deserves credit for providing a firm foundation for the WIPP safety culture. However, a true safety culture must be fully integrated into an organization's operations.
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From page 100... ...
The Westinghouse safety program is modeled on the OSHA Safety and Health Management Guidelines. In addition, the company has added a unique element to encourage and foster safety, the overall concept is that safety should be seen as positive, not negative or boring.
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From page 101... ...
Westinghouse works with the appropriate parties to resolve any problems but keeps final review and approval authority over all job hazard analyses and safety plans. A hazard prevention and control document states a management policy of support for the WIPP worker protection program.
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From page 102... ...
An employee recognition award program that is run by the safety and security committee allows anybody to nominate another employee for a safety award. The "Million-Hour Campaign" is also a recognized safety program at WIPP.
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From page 103... ...
Fred Ashford observed that for the WIPP science community, "data drives data drives data," and the collection of information raises more questions and never seems to provide definitive conclusions. Ultimately, the management and operating contractor has responsibility for the safety of all who are working underground, and the scientific studies being conducted by the SNE and Ohio State University are secondary in importance to ensuring that safety.
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From page 104... ...
104 Safety in the Underground Construction and Operation of the Exploratory Studies Facility induction experiments have provided much data on how the ground fails. WID has developed support systems and yieldable-support systems based primarily on data provided by Sandia researchers.
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