Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is one of the nation's leading scientific laboratories operated by Los Alamos National Security for the Department of Energy. LANL received $212 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund environmental cleanup projects, including demolishing 21 buildings at Technical Area 21 and removing waste from Material Disposal Areas A and B. The Recovery Act projects are expected to save or create over 300 jobs and improve safety by reducing contamination at the site.

1. ATOMICS in Action:
An Injury-Free Career at
Los Alamos National Laboratory
American Chemical Society
Fall 2010 National Meeting & Exposition
August 22 – 26, 2010 Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Mary Rose L. Montalvo, ESH-OFF
Jim Kleinsteuber, ESH-OFF
LA-UR-10-01882
Slide 1
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

2. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
 Los Alamos National Laboratory is one of the nation’s leading scientific and
defense laboratories, operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S.
Department of Energy’s NNSA. LANL is one of the original weapons complex labs
dating back to the days of the Manhattan Project during World War II.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 2
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

3. LANL Mission
The Laboratory's mission is to develop and apply science and technology to
 Ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent;
 reduce global threats; and
 solve other emerging national security challenges.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 3
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

4. Collaborative Research
 Center for Bio-Security Science - threats to national security, public health and agriculture from natural,
emerging, and engineered infectious agents.
 Center for Information Science and Technology - IS&T integration and support such as MaRIE and the new Bio-
Security and Energy Security centers.
 Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies - ultrafast spectroscopy, physical synthesis, nano fluidics and chemical
synthesis.
 Center for Nonlinear Studies - computational molecular biology, agent-based systems and modeling.
 Energy Security Center - reliable, secure and sustainable carbon neutral energy solutions
 Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter/LANL - emergent or nonlinear behavior in materials science
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 4
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

5. Collaborative Research
 Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics - astrophysics, complex dynamical systems, solid earth geo-
science, space physics
 Los Alamos Neutron Science Center - spallation neutron sources for research
 Lujan Neutron Scattering Center - employs pulsed spallation neutron source for neutron scattering studies of
condensed-matter
 National High-Magnetic Field Laboratory - exotic, nonmagnetic materials for megagauss sensors
 Superconductivity Technology Center - electric power and electronic device applications of high-temperature
superconductors
 Quantum Institute - quantum cryptography, quantum computing
 Seaborg Institute - plutonium and lighter actinide elements research
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 5
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

6. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 6
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

7. LANL received $212 million for environmental cleanup as part of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The Lab’s Recovery Act projects include:
 Decontamination and demolition of 21 buildings at Technical Area 21.
 Removal and remediation of early laboratory waste from Material Disposal Area
B.
 Installation of 16 groundwater monitoring wells.
 The projects are expected to save or create or save more than 300 jobs and are
scheduled for completion in September 2011, except for MDA-B, which is
scheduled for completion in late 2010.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 7
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

8. Recovery Act Clean-Up
The Delta Prime (DP) Site, known as Technical Area 21 (TA-21).
 TA-21 is located on DP Mesa southeast of the Los Alamos town site in
New Mexico. It was the site of chemical research for refining plutonium
and plutonium metal production from 1945 to 1978.
 Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,
TA-21 Closure Project is on schedule to complete investigations,
remediation, and decontamination and demolition activities by 2015.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 8
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

9. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
 Many of the 20-plus buildings at the end of DP Road in Los Alamos, called
Technical Area 21 or TA-21, were built as long ago as the 1940s and served
various uses during the Manhattan Project and Cold War eras.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 9
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

10. Demolition by Design
 Pre-demolition activities continue in other areas of Technical Area 21
as crews prepare buildings for demolition by removing equipment,
fixtures and pipes. To date, more than 300 tons of clean metal from
buildings at Technical Area 21 have been recycled.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 10
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

11. Demolition by Design
 Tearing down a building is not as simple as swinging a wrecking ball or
sledgehammer. To ensure worker and public safety through demolition
and the removal of debris, each of the 21 buildings at TA-21 undergoes
a thorough preparation process.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 11
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

12. TA-21 Update
 By January 2010, six buildings at TA-21 have been demolished,
including the 22,000-square-foot Building 210. The footprint of TA-21
has been reduced by about 27,000 square feet and 56 tons of metal
have been shipped for recycling.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 12
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

13. Material Disposal Area (MDA) A
 MDA A is a Hazard Category 2 nuclear facility comprised of a 1.25-acre, fenced,
and radiologically controlled area situated on the eastern end of DP Mesa.
 Two 50,000-gal. cylindrical steel storage tanks referred to as the General's Tanks
constructed for underground storage were emptied in the 1970's. The tanks
contain residual sludge from waste solutions contaminated with
plutonium-239/240 and americium-241.
 Two eastern pits containing solid waste potentially contaminated with polonium,
plutonium, uranium, thorium, and other unidentified chemicals associated with
Laboratory operations. The pits received waste from 1945 to 1946.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 13
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

14. Material Disposal Area (MDA) A
 One central pit containing TA-21 decontamination and
decommissioning debris potentially contaminated with radionuclides.
The central pit received waste from 1969 to 1978.
 A former surface drum storage area that was used to store drums of
sodium hydroxide solution and stable iodine and that reportedly was
contaminated with plutonium and possibly uranium. The drum storage
area was used from the late 1940s until 1960.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 14
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

15. Material Disposal Area (MDA) B
 Material Disposal Area (MDA) B is an inactive subsurface disposal site,
designated as Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU 21-015), that may
contain both hazardous and radiological chemicals.
 RCR activities regarding the hazardous chemical component of MDA B
are regulated by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED)
through a Compliance Order on Consent.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 15
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

16. Material Disposal Area (MDA) B
 The wastes disposed of at MDA B were highly heterogeneous, primarily
radioactively contaminated laboratory wastes and debris, and limited
liquid chemical waste; however, a formal waste inventory was not
maintained.
 The excavation of Material Disposal Area B (MDA-B), the Lab's oldest
waste disposal site, will occur inside 13 sturdy metal buildings.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 16
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

17. Material Disposal Area (MDA) B Enclosures
Erecting and testing the mobility of the metal structures over MDA B.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 17
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

18. Safety, Secure Workplace
Make safety and security integral to every activity we do.
Safety and security are crucial.
 Commitment: We will work to make safety and security the personal
responsibility of all of us, develop programs and engineered controls to
improve safety and security Labwide, and make Los Alamos a safer
place through employee involvement and continually improved
leadership.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 18
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

19. Safety Accomplishments
 All Recovery Act work performed without a safety, security, or conduct
of operations reportable or lost work case
 Worker Safety and Security Team (WSST) established
 Safety Observation training ongoing for all Recovery Act workers
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 19
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

20. Safety Observations
 Tool to raise safety awareness in a non-threatening way
 Allows for directed / guided observation teams
 Tool to build trust with built-in anonymous feedback loop mechanism
 ↑ increase safety awareness
 ↓ decrease anxiety or threat of reporting errors
 Goal is to fix things quickly and effectively
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 20
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

21. Safety Observation Objectives
 Provide positive reinforcement / feedback for safe behaviors
observed.
 Identify error-likely conditions for corrective actions.
 Gather meaningful data for analysis that identifies institutional
weaknesses in work management systems.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 21
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

22. Train to change perceptions:
1. Safety is not about the absence of
events, accidents, and mishaps.
2. Safety, in fact, is the presence of
defenses that safeguard against
events.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 22
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

23. Defense in Depth
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 23
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

24. Observations
 Identify job site hazards
 Identify Controls or Lack of Controls
 Identify Error-Likely Conditions
 Manage exposure to risk
 Reduce exposure and thereby reduce injury
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 24
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

25. Human Performance Principles
1. People are fallible, and even the best make mistakes.
2. Error-likely situations are predictable, manageable, and preventable.
3. Individual behavior is influenced by organizational processes and values.
4. People achieve high levels of performance based largely on the
encouragement and reinforcement received from leaders, peers, and
subordinates.
5. Events can be avoided by understanding the reasons mistakes occur and
applying the lessons learned from past events.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 25
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

26. Identify Critical Tasks
If we can predict it: we can prevent it!
 When implementing the process, workers provide ongoing input into
the sites data sheets which are designed to identify and manage risks
associated with their work.
 Data sheets guide workers to ask the right questions necessary for
performing informed decisions prior to initiating work activities.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 26
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

27. Identify Critical Tasks
 Data sheets guide workers to ask the right questions necessary for
performing informed decisions prior to initiating work activities.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 27
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

28. Observation Data Sheet Example
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 28
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

29. Observers apply a strategic approach:
 Anticipate and prevent active error at the job site.
 Reduce total number of “at-risk” critical behaviors and/or conditions.
 Identify and eliminate the related barriers/latent organizational weaknesses.
 Change other factors to encourage safe behaviors.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 29
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

30. Organizational Responsibilities:
 Reducing Errors (observations)
It is naïve (foolish) to think that positive reinforcement is the single
mechanism for safety observations success.
 Managing Defenses (data analysis)
The organizational change initiative, identification of system, facility,
and equipment issues identified are at least as likely to be primary
improvement mechanisms as positive reinforcement.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 30
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

31. Data Recording and Analysis
 Data analysis critical to improve safety performance, and identify
organization & process weaknesses
 To enable good data analysis, all observations need to be recorded
 Issues resulted from observation to be entered into LANL Performance
Feedback and Improvement Tracking System (PFITS) using the Issue
and Corrective Action Management (ICAM) process for resolution
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 31
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

32. Management Engagement
 First Line Managers or Team Leaders with support by the WSST
• Review observation data for adequacy
• Analyze data for trends, patterns and systemic issues, and identify
corrective actions
 Group & Division managers
• Support their organizations to correct deficiencies as needed
• Analyze data from their organizations for trends, patterns and
systemic issues, and identify corrective actions
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 32
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

33. Stockpile Manufacturing and Support (SMS) Success
Observations
TRC Rate
1600
DART Rate
6.67
5.86
1400 6.00
5.49 5.50
5.35
5.08 5.02
1200 5.33
Observation Count
4.304.354.414.374.28 4.67
TRC / DART Rate
1000 4.10
3.663.76 3.53 3.64 4.00
3.463.50 3.38 3.343.41 3.36
3.27
800 3.14
2.93 3.00 3.33
2.74 2.69
2.58
600 2.39 2.28 2.352.432.46 2.67
2.212.18 2.09 2.12
2.03 2.05
1.87 1.821.81
1.561.59 1.64 1.57 2.00
400 1.501.511.51
1.231.24 1.35
1.14
0.93 0.940.940.97 1.33
0.700.70
200
0.67
0 0.00
1/1/2012
2/1/2012
3/1/2012
4/1/2012
5/1/2012
6/1/2012
7/1/2012
8/1/2012
9/1/2012
10/1/2012
12/1/2012
1/1/2013
2/1/2013
3/1/2013
4/1/2013
5/1/2013
6/1/2013
7/1/2013
8/1/2013
9/1/2013
10/1/2013
12/1/2013
1/1/2014
2/1/2014
3/1/2014
4/1/2014
5/1/2014
6/1/2014
11/1/2012
11/1/2013
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 33
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

34. Management Engagement
 As ATOMICS has evolved at the Plutonium Facility, other organizations in the
laboratory have recognized safety successes at the Stockpile Manufacturing and
Support Directorate and have requested implementation support.
 Managers and workers alike share ownership of a robust safety & health
program and at the same time understand the impact of tools available to them.
 In addition to making the work environment safer, safety observations can also
improve worker morale, reduce near misses, and improve lessons learned
programs by sharing best practices.
LA-UR-10-01882 Slide 34
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA

35. LA-UR-10-01882
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA