By Quinn Matula, Safety Associate, Environment, Safety and Quality Assurance
On March 14, 2016, Brent A. Finney, senior special material representative, in Facility Management and Systems’ Material Control & Accountability department received a Gold Spot Award for displaying positive safety and quality assurance initiative by proactively preventing significant errors in a shipment scheduled to deliver multiple drums containing hazardous materials off site.
Brent identified out-of-scope work when the lack of proper isotopic identification in a material inventory acquisition was discovered. When this issue was brought up in a pre-shipment meeting, the shipment was immediately postponed until the issue was corrected.
This catch delayed a three-drum movement from a material balance area at New Brunswick Laboratory to Argonne’s Building 205 where the items were to be split and shipped to three national laboratories. The catch also prevented discrepancies that would have occurred in the Local Area Network Material Accounting System (LANMAS) database, the CURIE database and the characterization for on-site transports per U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.
Each shipment of this sort contains spreadsheets or forms with isotopic breakdowns and quantities. Reviewing these numbers for several shipments each day can become tedious. However, Brent’s personal initiative and commitment to quality reviews of documentation is greatly commended. Because of his effort and diligence, hours, if not days’ worth, of corrective actions were avoided.
Spot Awards give employees “on-the-spot” recognition for positive safety or quality assurance initiative. The Spot Award program offers three award levels: gold ($100), silver ($50) and bronze ($25).
If you see an employee exhibiting behavior that warrants positive recognition (e.g., safe behavior or process improvements), you can nominate that individual for a Spot Award by submitting a Spot Award (ANL-758).
The form will be routed to the individual’s supervisor and division for approval. Observers may award employees from their own division or from other divisions. The cost of the award is charged to the recipient’s division.
Additional information about the Spot Award program is available on Inside Argonne.