McMillan Testifies Before Senate Subcommittee
LANL Director Charlie McMillan recently testified before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. The Subcommittee requested testimony on lab governance from directors of the three National Nuclear Security Administration weapons labs, which included LANL. Also appearing before the committee were two authors of a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences regarding lab oversight.
In his remarks, McMillian covered the challenges of ensuring the safety and reliability of the nuclear stockpile (including pit reuse and life-extension plans), funding issues, as well as Laboratory oversite and governance.
For the complete text of his remarks, go to http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2012/04%20April/McMillan%2004-18-12.pdf.
“How’s My DRIVING?” Campaign Begins
To help ensure that Lab employees who operate government vehicles do so safely, the Lab has launched a “How’s my DRIVING?” campaign. Each of the Laboratory’s more than 1,500 vehicles now have a placard with a vehicle identification number and the phone number 665-SAFE, or 665-7233, so unsafe driving behaviors can be reported.
Information coming in to 665-SAFE will be recorded and sent to the organization to which that vehicle is assigned, and line managers will determine a proper response. The calls will also be recorded in the Lab’s Safety Concerns System.
These types of programs can be effective, and a University of Chicago report indicated that "…the use of 'How’s My Driving?' placards in commercial trucks is associated with fleet accident reductions ranging from 20% to 53%.”
The campaign is a product of the Lab’s Traffic Safety Committee, a subcommittee of the Institutional Work Safety and Security Team.
To view the University of Chicago report, go to http://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/files/125.pdf.