All work at Berkeley Lab (LBNL) must be authorized or permitted. Before starting any LBNL work, all employees, affiliates, and students must be added to, approved to participate in by their supervisor, and accept conditions to work on a Work Planning and Control (WPC) activity that describes their work. There are a handful of activities that also require a permit.

IMPORTANT: Before starting any work, your supervisor or work lead must complete the New/Returning Employee & Affiliate Hiring Request Form, which identifies the WPC activity or activities to which you will be added.

For your convenience, links to the applicable databases or resources are provided below. For assistance, contact Division Safety Coordinator Rosanne Boudreau.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) Environment, Safety & Health (ES&H) Manual, previously known as PUB-3000, describes requirements that apply to all Berkeley Lab employees, participating affiliates, subcontractors, and visitors to the Berkeley Lab main site, its off-site locations, and its field operations. 

Why?

The standards in this manual are designed to:

• • Protect people from injury and illness, and protect property and the environment from damage, loss, or degradation due to accidents or other causes.

  • Comply with the requirements of Berkeley Lab’s contract with DOE (Contract 31), the EHSS technical program areas defined by the ES&H Standards Set in Appendix I of Contract 31, and applicable federal, state, and local regulations.

  • Describe the detailed and technical work processes and administrative procedures used to control hazards in Berkeley Lab workplaces and environments.

  • What you need to do before performing work:

  • Learn the principles and functions of the DOE Integrated Safety Management (ISM) system that Berkeley Lab has adopted to ensure that work is performed safely. You are expected to exercise the Integrated Safety Management (ISM) process whenever you plan or do work. For details, see the Integrated Safety Management System Overview tab in the ES&H Core Policy of the RPM wiki.

  • The core functions of ISM are:

  • Define the Scope of Work

  • Analyze the Hazards

  • Develop and Implement Hazard Controls

  • Perform Work within Controls

  • Provide Feedback for Continuous Improvement

  • The guiding principles of ISM are:

  • Line Management Responsibility for Safety

  • Clear Roles and Responsibilities

  • Competence Commensurate with Responsibilities

  • Balanced Priorities

  • Identification of Safety Standards and Requirements

  • Hazard and Environmental Controls Tailored to the Work Being Performed

  • Operations are Authorized by Management Before Work is Started

  • Berkeley Lab has adopted these seven ISM guiding principles within its Work Planning and Control activities, which are reflected in its detailed policies and procedures. Principal investigators, managers, supervisors, and work leads are expected to incorporate these principles into the management of their work activities (see Section 1.6.1, Line Management Responsibility and Accountability for ES&H). They are also responsible for integrating ES&H into work and for ensuring active, rigorous communication up and down the management chain with the workforce. For specific responsibilities at each level, see Section 1.7, Roles and Responsibilities.

Every person working in a Berkeley Lab workplace must be familiar with and implement applicable Laboratory safety standards. Sponsors must ensure affiliates have a safe work environment and that they understand the parameters of their work; affiliates must comply with safety instructions. See Section 1.6.3 , Competence Commensurate with Responsibilities. 

All Berkeley Lab employees, contractors, and affiliates have the right and responsibility to stop work activities that are considered to be an imminent danger. For details, see Stop Work Policy.

Your rights and responsibilities include:

• • The right to work in an environment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious injury

  • The responsibility is to work safely and to prevent harm to yourself, other workers, the general public, and the environment. See Workers' ES&H Rights and Responsibilities.