Investigation of injury/illness data at a nuclear facility: Part II

Abstract

4 _ T D $ D I F F ] At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), there are several nuclear facilities, accelerator facilities, radiological facilities, explosives sites, moderate-and high-hazard non-nuclear facilities, biosciences laboratory, etc. The Plutonium Science and Manufacturing Directorate (ADPSM) provides special nuclear material research, process development, technology demonstration, and manufacturing capabilities. ADPSM manages the LANL Plutonium Facility. Within the Radiological Control Area at TA-55 (PF-4), chemical and metallurgical operations with plutonium and other hazardous materials are performed. LANL Health and Safety Programs investigate injury and illness data. In this study, statistically significant trends have been identified and compared for LANL, ADPSM, and PF-4 injury/illness cases. A previously described output metric is used to measures LANL management progress towards meeting its operational safety objectives and goals. Timelines are used to determine trends in Injury/Illness types. Pareto Charts are used to prioritize causal factors. Data generated from analysis of Injury/Illness data have helped identify and reduce the number of corresponding causal factors.

Investigation of injury data at a detonator facility

“…• Injury Output Metric Some injuries result in a recordable incident, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), e.g., significant diagnosed injuries or those that require medical treatments such as wound closing that requires adding stitches. 2,3 Sub-recordable (First Aid) injuries are those that do not meet these criteria, such as the use of bandages to cover a wound or removing foreign bodies from the eye using only irrigation or a cotton swab. The LANL Injury/Illness database is the primary repository for injury and illness information, including all demographic information about the incident, employee statement, medical record, investigation report, primary injury factors, body parts, and all OSHA classification information.…”

“…See walk safely in adverse conditions. 3 "Other" factors have declined for the same reason "Other" type cases have declined; the medical doctors entering information into the factors. Work station evaluations have led to fewer injuries with Lift/Push/Pull factors.…”

“…2 Investigation of National Security Laboratory injury data demonstrated that the management expectation that workers seek medical attention before an injury or illness becomes serious has been effectively implemented. 3…”

Reliability study of an emerging fire suppression system

“…Rearranging equation [1] to solve for the pressure at the ultimate strength of the material, the rupture pressure, yields…”

“…The most effective protection from radioactive materials is engineered barriers and has been incorporated through architectural and structural design. 1 Potential engineering controls include differential ventilation pressure zones, High-Efficiency Particulate Air filtration, radiation shielding, and gloveboxes. Gloveboxes used for radioactive materials are maintained at a lower pressure than the surrounding room atmosphere so that relatively small leaks result in air inflow rather than radioactive material release.…”