From LLNL News OnLine
LLNL ES&H reorganizes
September 28, 2010
The Laboratory’s Environment, Safety & Health directorate has been restructured, effective Oct. 1. The ES&H directorate is part of the Director’s Office, and provides many of the trained ES&H personnel to Lab programs, as well as service, programs and facilities necessary for the Laboratory to successfully meet its objectives in environmental protection, occupational health and employee safety.
The restructuring is the result of discussions between ES&H and Lab programs regarding optimization of ES&H support to the programs. Most of the changes instituted by the restructuring will be transparent to the general Lab population, but will increase efficiency and cost effectiveness within ES&H.
Changes include a transition of the Hazards Control Department and the Environmental Protection Department into the following distinct organizations: the Worker Safety and Health Functional Area, the Radiation Protection Functional Area, the Environmental Functional Area, Team 1 and Team 2. These organizations report directly to ES&H Director Steve Wuthrich. ES&H’s Health Services Department and Safety Education Section remain basically unchanged and continue to report to the ES&H director.
Three new offices also were established within the ES&H director’s office. These include the Process and Document Management Office, the Injury and Illness Analysis Office and the Assurance Management Office. Establishment of these offices centralizes some of the responsibilities that had been spread throughout ES&H, thereby freeing ES&H personnel at the work place to concentrate on the services they provide the programs and the institution.
The reorganization is intended to increase integration and teamwork, while flattening management structure and centralizing some responsibilities.
“ES&H’s new structure better aligns responsibility, authority and resources, and allows us to better serve the needs of the programs and the institution, in a more cost effective manner,” said Wuthrich.
5 comments:
"....but will increase efficiency and cost effectiveness within ES&H."
Bwaaaa, haaaa, haaa, haaaaaa! That's real funny!
Nothing the LLCs have done has increased efficiency or lowered costs at the NNSA labs. Just the opposite has happened!
When I first came to the Lab, we (Programs) really looked to HC to help us work safely. We voluntarily paid to keep techs supporting our projects.
Now the focus is on paperwork and bureaucracy. The best reorganization would be to cut ES&H by 50%.
The next act will be increasing the use of contractors to supply direct funded ES&H support to Programs.
I don't think anyone really cares.
ReOrg in lieu of management?
Shake up everything, promote your friends, waste time and money moving people around.
Maybe they can promote a Bechtel manager who has no ES&H skills or experience!
How do you count loses that don't happen?
There is always the temptation to trim safety, and ES&H*.
But there are certain minimum mandated items, required by law, and LLNSs is now stretched to try to do even that. Documentation is legally needed to be sure those things get done, and that paperwork takes time and effort. To do that and still provide service you need more, not less people.
And you need bright qualified people, not the people who will work for mediocre salary, just happy to have a job somewhere and go thru the motions.
"Industrial" levels of Quality?
LLNS no longer calls them Safety Engineers, they are Safety "Professionals", so they can be hired cheaper. And they no longer employ a single actual registered Fire Protection Engineer.
Traditional:
*Safety is like hi stakes gambling - think about PG&E's pipeline "safety." Or the oil industry's attitudes. If you toss the dice often enough you can sometimes lose big: lives, injuries, reputations, money.
And when it becomes obvious that it didn't work, you can always ReOrg again!
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