BWXT Pantex is committed to employee safety. The company has implemented several important programs and processes to reach its goal of zero accidents.

From fiscal year 2001 to the end of FY06, BWXT Pantex’s Total Recordable Case (TRC) rate has improved 77 percent. The plant’s Lost Time Case Rate (LTC) has improved 85 percent for the same time period. (The TRC and LTC are two common ways industry measures safety success.) In FY06, Pantex’s TRC rate was 58 percent better and Pantex’s LTC was 64 percent better than other industries that do similar work, according to the Standard Industrial Classification Code.

Although these results are outstanding, BWXT Pantex continues to strive to improve the overall safety record.

BWXT Pantex implemented an Incident Free Work Environment philosophy at the site. It is a philosophy that requires management, leadership, employee involvement, hazard prevention and control, and safety and health training.

BWXT Pantex Industrial Safety Department developed a strategic business model to commit staff and resources toward effective balance of mission priorities, value determinations, and objectives aimed at preventing, eliminating, or mitigating unsafe acts and unsafe conditions. To ensure worker safety, the department provides compliance guidelines for safety related regulations, programs, and initiatives that support this philosophy. Industrial Safety assists the plant with implementation of safety program improvements and routine oversight of firearms safety, electrical safety, traffic safety, hazard analyses, incident investigations, facility inspections, and other safety processes.

Safety councils are a vital part of the safety programs used by BWXT Pantex. Currently, BWXT Pantex utilizes three different safety councils to promote open safety communications and solicit invaluable input from different organizations on site. The President’s Safety Council, The Joint Company and Union Safety Council and the Subcontractor Safety Council are important tools that integrate several different groups and provide a forum for valuable safety discussions. The President’s Safety Council is a monthly meeting that is made up of a diverse representation from across the plant and includes Department of Energy and Union representatives. The Joint Company and Union Safety Council is another monthly meeting that brings together BWXT Pantex senior Managers and the leadership of each of the Unions to address specific issues brought forward for discussion. The Subcontractor Safety Council is a quarterly meeting between BWXT Pantex and all contractors as well as their Project Officers and responsible Division Managers. This meeting is a forum to discuss concerns and ensure that all subcontractors are working within the high safety standards that are expected by BWXT Pantex.

Another way that BWXT Pantex accomplishes work safely is by using the Integrated Safety Management System (ISM) framework. ISM is the overarching system that provides a high reliability organization the assurance that high consequence operations can be effectively performed while providing for the safety of workers, the public and environment. ISM guiding principles are the fundamental requirements that drive operations, from development of scope to performance of work. The system enables management to define the scope of the work, analyze hazards, identify and implement needed controls and provide continuous feedback for continuous improvement. By taking these steps management is able to confirm readiness before work begins and incorporate improvements if needed.

HPI is intended to promote behaviors to accomplish specific results throughout BWXT Pantex that support safe and reliable operations. Progress towards HPI requires a work environment in which individuals and leaders routinely exhibit desired behaviors. Such behaviors must be clearly described, communicated, and reinforced. Peer pressure, open communication, and positive reinforcement can establish a culture in which individuals, leaders, and organizational processes eliminate obstacles to achieve excellent human performance. This situation will reduce or eliminate error likely situations therefore reducing or even eliminating events due to human error. Excellent human performance leads to optimum plant performance.

While Plant management is ultimately responsible for protecting workers from hazards in the workplace, responsibility extends to all employees at Pantex. Behavior Based Safety (BBS) is an employee-driven process that focuses attention on safe and at-risk behaviors. Employees are trained to conduct observations of their peers’ activities in their work areas and then provide specific feedback in a non-threatening manner. Employee steering committees trend information, develop action plans and communicate results. BBS is another safety improvement tool used at Pantex.