SLAC Today logo

SLAC Restructures and Strengthens CGS Department

(Photo - New faces at ES&H)In November 2007, the Chemical & General Safety (CGS) Department of SLAC's Environment, Safety & Health (ES&H) Division undertook plans to restructure and strengthen their department. As part of these improvements, the SLAC community congratulates Steve Hauptman and Ralph Kerwin on their newly expanded roles and welcomes Lance Lougee and Terry McMahon to the lab.

Last spring, Brian Sherin took on the role of CGS Department head. Since then he has been restructuring the organization. "Our goal is to have top notch people provide safety and emergency management support to SLAC’s operations. The new staff and organization helps build upon previous accomplishments and moves us in the right direction." Sherin said.

One of the first steps was the restaffing of the Fire and Emergency Management Group. With Bob Reek's retirement in October, Ralph Kerwin has now taken on the role of Fire Marshal. "The changes are challenging to put into place, but they will greatly strengthen our programs," said Kerwin.

Assisting Kerwin is Lance Lougee, who joins SLAC as Assistant Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Coordinator. "My primary role is to support the fire protection program and coordinate disaster preparedness and response recovery," he said. Lougee comes from both an entrepreneurial and professional emergency response background and is looking forward to applying his skills to SLAC. "I saw this as a great opportunity," he said. "It's exciting to work for Stanford on a brand new program."

Terry McMahon joins SLAC as the Deputy Department Head where he oversees both the ES&H Training Group and Industrial Safety. "My goal is to get our ES&H training program functioning as well as it can and ensure we're offering the required courses and quality training material," he explained.

"Terry was a great find for SLAC," said Sherin. "He has a lot of experience managing ES&H services, including work with other DOE labs."

Likewise, McMahon is eager to embrace his new role. "I'm looking forward to working with the ES&H training committee, and ensuring that we're incorporating feedback from line organizations in all of our training."

Steve Hauptman, leading the Industrial Safety Group, has had his role has expanded to Accident Prevention Program Manager. This now includes program management of the DOE's Occurrence Reporting and Processing System (ORPS). "My primary responsibility is to focus on accident prevention, but we also need to ensure that events are investigated," he said. "When an accident does occur, we need to take appropriate and immediate action to stabilize the situation, verify that the underlying causes are identified and to ensure that the appropriate parties remedy any unsafe operations."

Hauptman is also looking at how a new program—Human Performance Improvement (HPI)—is being implemented at other DOE sites and how it could help SLAC in its Accident Prevention Program. "HPI is an approach to improving performance through positive reinforcement," he explains. "Experience in both normal and complex environments shows that you cannot have an error-free workplace. The program looks toward early identification of errors and seeks to put up barriers to minimize their consequences as they happen."

Hauptman feels the changes are making a positive impact on SLAC ES&H. "We're expanding our role in developing more effective models of eliminating events and minimizing the effects of the events if they do occur," he said.

Congratulations to a new and improved CGS!

Elizabeth Buchen, SLAC Today, January 9, 2008

Above image: From left to right: Terry McMahon, Steve Hauptman, Lance Lougee, Brian Sherin and Ralph Kerwin. (Click on image for larger version.)