Fire danger: Low
Lab appoints director of Human Resources
Lab director John Browne today announced
the appointment of Helga Christopherson as director of the Lab's
Human Resources Division.
"Helga Christopherson is a great addition to the Lab," said Browne. "Her extensive experience in human resource and personnel issues at the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies, and more recently at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will be a tremendous asset in this important position."
Christopherson has served as a senior staff member in the Director's Office at Livermore since 1990. Working with the Livermore director and other members of senior management, she spearheaded policy and program development in a number of institutional areas. She developed an action plan in response to DOE concerns about compensation issues, served as a key adviser to management during the renegotiation of the University of California/DOE contract, participated in management reviews of institutional issues, and developed and implemented actions to resolve sensitive institutional and personnel issues. Christopherson also served as Livermore's representative to UC-wide advisory committees.
From 1978 to 1983, Christopherson served as personnel manager and deputy HR manager at Livermore, and then was appointed HR manager from 1983 to 1990. As HR manager, she was responsible for managing a staff of 120 with a budget of approximately $10 million, and had oversight of all HR functions, including staffing, compensation, benefits, EEO/affirmative action/diversity, employee relations, labor relations, employee development, HR policy and HR information systems.
Before 1978, Christopherson worked at the San Francisco Operations Office of the Department of Energy, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Energy Research and Development Administration.
"I am looking forward to joining Los Alamos and working with the HR and senior management teams there. I understand the importance of HR to the success and completion of the Lab's science and national security missions and to John Browne's goal of improving the quality of worklife," Christopherson said.
At the Lab, Christopherson will be responsible for management and oversight of the entire HR function, including compensation and benefits, employee relations, labor relations, HR information systems, HR policy, training and development, and staffing. The HR office has an annual budget of $6.5 million and a staff of about 210.
"I'm excited to get started learning about the specific HR issues and challenges that face the Lab. Our role in HR should be to provide employees and managers with the support that they need so they can do the best job possible," Christopherson said.
Christopherson, who has lived most of her life in California, earned both her master of arts in public administration and her bachelor's in social sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.
Christopherson is expected to start in her new position sometime in October. The recently named deputy director of HR, Art Garcia, will serve as acting director of HR until Christopherson arrives.
Browne also acknowledged Judith Kaye's service to the Lab as acting director of HR. In her new position, Kaye will provide high-level staff assistance to the Director's Office.
Business Administration and Outreach (BAO) expects to announce the new director for the Diversity Office (DVO) in the near future.
--David Lyons
Three environmental programs at the Lab have won Green Zia Awards for special achievement and commitment in environmental excellence given by the New Mexico Environment Alliance. Gov. Gary Johnson and New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Secretary Peter Maggiore will host the awards ceremony that takes place in Santa Fe Sept. 21 at the Hotel Santa Fe.
The honored Labs projects are the Transuranic Waste Inspectable Storage Project (TWISP), Waste Management in High Explosives Science and Technology (DX-2), and Laboratory wide Waste Management, Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization by the Environmental Management (EM) Division.
The Green Zia Awards are given at three levels, "Excellence," "Achievement" and "Commitment," based on the degree of development and implementation of a pollution prevention-focused environmental management system. The TWISP award is given at the "Achievement" level and the DX-2 and EM-DIV awards are at the "Commitment" level. Of the 22 awards given this year, none were at the "Excellence" level.
TWISP, located at Area G of the Laboratory's solid waste disposal site at Technical Area 54, leads the effort at Los Alamos to retrieve waste-containing drums and fiberglass reinforced boxes, some of them from beneath earthen cover, and place them into inspectable storage. The emphasis at TWISP is to perform this task with the utmost safety, protecting both the workers and the environment.
"The Green Zia Awards are given by NMED as part of the Environmental Alliance, a partnership of state, local and federal agencies, academia, private industry and environmental advocacy groups," said Brian Thompson, Green Zia program coordinator at the Laboratory. "The awards have been in development for five years, but this is the first year that actual awards have been given.
"This award is not just for one thing but for the TWISP operation as a whole," said Thompson. "It's management by fact, based on real data, that shows the real effects of specific actions." One of the effects of the systematic approach taken at TWISP is a reduction in secondary wastes, boxes, paper, plastics, etc., of 90 percent.
"The awards are based on evaluations by impartial and objective judges; they are very careful to guard against any conflict of interest. It's all independent," said Alicia Hale, graduate research assistant in the Laboratory's Environmental Stewardship Office. "Those evaluations are validated by a panel of judges who say, in effect, what applications deserve an award."
Although the Lab is extremely pleased and proud to have been awarded these Green Zias, the application process alone has tremendous value as a learning tool, according to Thompson. "One key aspect is that all applications get feedback reports that point out a program's significant strengths and opportunities for improvement. This is really the meat of the program -- it lets us see what we are doing well and what we can work on. Just putting together the application is kind of a self-assessment in the first place," he said.
TWISP project leader Gilbert Montoya said the men and women working on TWISP also gain from participation in the process. "Almost 100 percent of the suggestions for process improvement came directly from our employees, who had all kinds of ideas of how to reduce the amount of waste we generate and to improve health and safety as a result," said Montoya. "The workers were very involved in the application process, more than willing to participate. This is totally value-added because of the positive reinforcement for the employees."
The bottom line in waste minimization, of course, is the safeguarding of our environment, but there are other benefits as well. "This represents not just waste minimization, but also improved health and safety practices," said Hale. "And, waste minimization actually saves money. We call it 'going beyond compliance' because when you reduce waste you improve waste management efficiency, that improvement reduces expenditures-more efficient processes cost less money, it's that simple."
These Green Zia Awards are just a start for the Environmental Stewardship Office according to Thompson. "Our long-term goal is to eventually win a Green Zia at the "Excellence" level for the Lab as a whole. There's this image we have, people don't think we focus on environmental excellence, but we do, and we want to demonstrate that by achieving our long-term goal," he said.
--Kevin Roark
Director answers questions at Sept. 15 Town Hall meeting
Lab Director John Browne provided employees
with an update on the salary process and labor relations at Wednesday's
Town Hall meeting held in the Administration Building Auditorium.
The meeting was also broadcast live on LABNET.
Browne walked employees through this year's salary-review process, outlining the Salary Increase Authorization from the Department of Energy, the overarching principles that guide the allocation of monies to directorates and divisions, and then the distribution to employees.
Browne said the primary consideration in determining employees' salaries this year was their overall relative contribution score, in comparison to employees in their peer group. Peer groups this year, for the most part, were established at the division level to ensure greater consistency and fairness.
The second consideration is the relationship of an employee's salary to a "target pay line," which represents the market average for that employee's peer group.
"The idea," said Browne, "is that people will be roughly scattered around the 'target pay line' as a function of their overall relative contribution score." "The process is not so precise that every score equals an exact salary. Rather, what we're trying to do is have Lab salaries line up with what the external market would pay for similar jobs."
Browne explained that just as the Lab wants to be competitive with the external market, it also wants its internal pay practices to be consistent regardless of where people work at the Lab. He noted that a part of this question is the issue of whether job families and structures are appropriate and consistent across the Lab.
Browne added that the Lab has made a lot of progress in terms of how money is allocated to directorates and divisions. In the past, the Director's Office held back funds to address possible inequities across the Lab, and then allocated the remaining funds based on payroll. This year, allocations across the Lab were made using the market data compiled from this year's surveys. This process promotes consistent internal pay practices.
"This new market-based method provides a structure that addresses relative differences in pay among divisions," said Browne. "It means that instead of looking for inequities across the Lab after the salary review and trying to fix them, I can allocate most of the SIA up front and hold very little in reserve."
"Overall, we've made a lot of improvements to the salary process this year. The SPC, teaming with Human Resources, did a great job providing us with the research and input that was required to help us move forward," said Browne.
Browne later discussed news on labor relations, including efforts by the California Legislature to extend the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) to employees at the Lab.
Senate Bill (SB) 1279, which would extend HEERA to apply to employees at the Lab has passed the California Legislature and has been sent to California Gov. Gray Davis for signature. It appears likely that the bill will be signed into law. If this happens, Browne explained, Lab employees would have collective-bargaining rights under the law, as opposed to the Laboratory policy that was being developed simultaneously.
Browne noted that SB 1279 was amended before final passage to include three amendments proposed by the University of California. One of the amendments that was accepted makes it less likely that Lab employees might be absorbed in (UC) systemwide bargaining units without an opportunity to vote on whether they desired to be represented by a union. The ultimate decision regarding bargaining units will still be made by the California Public Employment Relations Board. However, the chance that Lab employees will be absorbed, or accreted, into existing UC bargaining units, without having the opportunity to vote on the issue of representation, should be much lower.
"It's good news for employees that the amendments were accepted because now it is much more likely that Lab employees will be able to choose whether or not they want to join unions," said Browne.
He highlighted another California bill, SB 645, that would allow a union to collect the equivalent of union dues from all employees in a bargaining unit represented by the union, even if the employees did not want to be union members. SB 645 has passed the Legislature and has been sent to the governor for signature.
"The bottom line is that our employees will have the right to collective bargaining in January of 2000, either through a Lab policy or through California law. At the same time, having a law or policy does not mean that Lab employees will necessarily become unionized," he said.
Browne then went on to discuss his own thoughts on the issue. "I support our employees having the same rights to collective bargaining that other UC employees have. At the same time, based on my personal experience, I believe that it's better when management and employees can be involved in direct, open discussions," he said. "Going through a third party is much more difficult, and necessarily changes the flavor of the work environment."
He added, "Regardless of whether or not we have unions at the Lab, we are committed to providing the best terms and conditions of employment for all our employees."
In closing, Browne urged all employees to become involved in the process, make their opinions known, and when the time comes, get out and vote.
Browne then fielded a number of questions from the audience, most of which were regarding salary. Among other questions, Browne was asked how the budget situation in Washington, D.C. might hold up salary increases, what actions will be taken to ensure that managers complied with the salary process, whether the TSMs would some day be in a structured series, and what was being done to address questions of access for union and anti-union representatives.
Browne also received one question on the possible moratorium on visits by foreign nationals from sensitive countries being discussed in Congress as part of this year's Defense Authorization Act. Browne emphasized that the Lab was doing everything possible to ensure that all SC foreign nationals who are currently at the Lab will be able to stay on in their current position.
Employees who were unable to attend or ask questions at Wednesday's meeting are encouraged to send questions to future@lanl.gov.
--David Lyons
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Questions and answers from Town Hall meeting Following are some of the questions that were asked at Wednesday's Town Hall meeting, along with the answers provided by John Browne. Q: Is the budget situation in Congress likely to hold up the salary increases? A: It's my strong desire to be able to begin the new salaries in October. Whether or not we can do that, however, is a function of what happens in Washington, in particular if there is a continuing resolution. A continuing resolution by Congress would provide week-by-week funding so that we can continue operations, but it does not give funding for the full year. At this point, it's likely that we will have a continuing resolution. If it lasts only one to two weeks, we shouldn't have a problem starting the new salaries in October. On the other hand, if the resolution lasts beyond one month, the Lab will have to consider some fairly stringent "belt-tightening" measures, which might lead to a modest delay in starting the salary increases. Q: I've heard from employees that some managers conducted this year's salary review process as they always have, basing salaries on length of service. What measures is the Lab going to take to stop this? A: To ensure that the new system is being followed, we need to audit the process. If managers are "doing their own thing," we need to know about it. Employees should bring this to the attention of their division management, or if they're not comfortable with that, they should go through Human Resources or the Ombuds office. In terms of dealing with this in a real-time sense, it may be possible to correct a serious problem, but issues of this type will need to be handled on a case-by-case basis. Q: What are the prospects that TSMs might become a structured series in the future? A: It seems to me that making the TSMs a structured series would make it much more difficult to accomplish technical projects that we are able to do with the current system. It's certainly possible that it might make sense to make use of more detailed market surveys for the TSMs, but a structure would be counter-productive. Q: What is the status of the possible moratorium on visits by foreign nationals from sensitive countries (SC) being discussed in Congress as part of this year's Defense Authorization Act? A: See the September 17 Newsbulletin article in which the Director answers this question. Q: Will anti-union forces at the Laboratory have the same access to Lab facilities and resources that union representatives will? A: Art Garcia, acting director of Human Resources, provided a response to this question. Garcia explained that the Lab is in the process of developing an overall access policy. The policy, which will be announced before the end of the year, will spell out rules regarding access to Lab facilities and resources. |
Laboratory/Northern New Mexico United Way 2000 giving-campaign book fair this week
The Laboratory/Northern New Mexico United
Way 2000 giving-campaign kickoff continues with a book fair Wednesday
and Thursday in the Otowi Building lobby at Technical Area 3.
And University of California Laboratory employees should begin receiving campaign pledge cards in Laboratory mail.
More than 500 people attended the campaign kickoff street fair last week. About $1,500 was raised from the lunch and the book fair, said Chris Olivera of the Community Relations Office (CRO).
"The street fair was a great start to our 2000 United Way campaign and once again showed that Lab workers and the public support United Way and its mission," he said.
The "Books Are Fun," book fair is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in the Otowi Building lobby near the entrance to the Human Resources (HR) Division. A portion of the proceeds from sales at the book fair is donated to United Way.
The Lab's United Way campaign ends Nov. 5. The campaign goal is $730,000. Last year's campaign raised about $665,000 for a number of social service programs in Los Alamos, Española, Fairview, Santa Fe, Albuquerque and El Rito. Of the total raised last year, $467,000 came from University of California Laboratory employees, said Olivera.
Some 8,200 UC Lab employees will receive campaign pledge cards and donation forms through Laboratory mail, said Olivera. He also noted that this year's pledge form has an area where employees can designate their donation or pledge to the Northern New Mexico/Los Alamos United Way or Santa Fe County campaigns.
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Kim Zeilik of Procurement (BUS-5) holds $1 vouchers that were distributed to employees and members of the public who purchased a $2 lunch at the Laboratory/Northern New Mexico United Way 2000 campaign kickoff street fair. The vouchers could be turned in to any of a number of agencies that receive United Way financial assistance. Photo by Leroy N. Sanchez |
Employees can pledge to United Way through payroll deduction. Or they can write a check to United Way, attach the check to the pledge card and return it to Mail Stop A117 through interoffice mail.
Concurrent with the United Way giving campaign is the United Way Leadership Giving Circle, which is open to employees who donate or pledge through payroll deduction at least $1,000 in the current campaign, said Olivera.
The Jemez Giving Circle campaign, which is open to employees who have donated to United Way for at least two consecutive years, also continues, Olivera added.
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Lab employees, United Way of Northern New Mexico board members and Los Alamos National Bank employees served up hambugers, hot dogs and soft drinks at the recent Laboratory/Northern New Mexico United Way 2000 campaign kickoff street fair. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez |
For more information about the 2000 United Way campaign, call Olivera or Suazo at 5-4400, or write to unitedway@lanl.gov by electronic mail.
Additional information about the Los Alamos United Way campaign
can be found at
http://www.losalamos.com/unitedway
online.
--Steve Sandoval
1999 Memory Walk for Alzheimer's disease
The 1999 Memory Walk and run to raise money for Alzheimer's disease is Saturday in White Rock. The walk is the only nationwide fundraising event for the illness, said Ruth Gibson of Staffing (HR-5).
Money raised is used to support local programs and services for persons with Alzheimer's disease, their caregivers and their families, and to support research on the disease by the National Institutes of Health, she said.
The Memory Walk is a Laboratory sanctioned activity. Participation in the Memory Walk also counts toward employees' Walking Incentive month walking totals at the Lab.
The 5-kilometer (3.2 miles) run and 3-mile walk begins at 8:15 a.m. at Piñon Park in White Rock. There is a $20 entrance fee, which entitles participants to a T-shirt and one raffle ticket.
There also will be a 1-kilometer fun run for children; the sign up fee is $10 for this event and all participants receive a T-shirt.
Registration forms are available at the Wellness Center (ESH-2) at Technical Area 3, the Los Alamos Medical Center, the Los Alamos Family YMCA downtown, Los Alamos National Bank on Trinity Drive, the Los Alamos county senior centers, the Los Alamos County Recreation Department or through the Los Alamos Heart Council or Atomic City Roadrunners.
Alzheimer's is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain; it is the most common form of dementia. Some four million Americans have it, and 19 million Americans say they have a family member with Alzheimer's disease, according to statistics from the National Alzheimer's Association.
The Alzheimer's Association also offers the following statistics about the disease:
The New Mexico chapter of National Alzheimer's Association phone number is (505) 266-4473 or 1-800-777-8155. The National Alzheimer's Association toll free number is 1-800-272-3900.
A number of support groups have been formed for families affected by the disease. In Los Alamos, call 662-7549; in Española, call 753-5846 or 753-8531; in Santa Fe, call 982-5906, 471-2400 or 984-8313; and in Taos, call 758-2300.
Questions about Alzheimer's disease also can be sent to webmaster@alz.org by electronic mail. More information about Alzheimer's disease also can be found at http://www.pslgroup.com/ALZHEIMER.HTM online.
For more information about the 1999 Memory Walk, call Gibson at 7-6887, or write to Gibson at gibson@lanl.gov by electronic mail, Jerry Bower at 662-7549 or the Los Alamos County Recreation Department at 662-8173.
--Steve Sandoval
Year 2000 Department of Energy awards presentation
Deputy Director of Operations Dick Burick, center, congratulates Chris McConaha, left, of Nuclear Materials Information Management (NMT-3) at last week's Year 2000 Department of Energy awards presentation in the Otowi Building Cafeteria. At left is Debbie Thompson of the Computing, Information and Communications (CIC) Division Office.
Eighty-nine Lab employees and contract personnel on 15 teams received awards for demonstrating extraordinary performance in year 2000 readiness and planning efforts at the Lab. McConaha was part of a six-person team that worked on readying the Lab's Nuclear Material and Accountability System, one of the Lab's four mission-essential systems.
Recipients received money and a certificate. A total of $89,900 was given to the employee/contractor teams. A complete list of winners can be found at http://www.lanl.gov/projects/ia/year2000/docs/winners.html online. Also, see the June 3, 1999 Daily Newsbulletin. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez
Notice issued for appropriate personal protective equipment for use in radiological buffer areas
Recently a Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico subcontractor employee assigned to the Transuranic Waste Isolation Project was loading supposedly uncontaminated 55-gallon-filled waste drums onto a truck in Dome 33 of the facility. As the employee was preparing to leave the dome, he requested an RCT to frisk him. The RCT performed the frisk and found that the employee had 1000 counts per minute of alpha contamination on the palm area of the cotton glove and 3,500 dpm on the skin of the palm under the glove. The employee was immediately decontaminated. The Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) Division recently issued a notice to specify generic requirements for personal protective equipment in radiological buffer areas.
Department of Energy's Office of Performance Assurance and Independent Oversight audit
"The best review we've ever done. . . . The most impressive inspection that we've ever had. "
That was the conclusion of a major audit of the Laboratory's overall security last month by the Department of Energy's Office of Performance Assurance and Independent Oversight.
The leader of the audit team, Glenn Podonsky, told Laboratory Director John Browne and the rest of Laboratory management at the conclusion of the audit that the Lab showed his team several excellent security practices. In fact, the inspectors judged the Laboratory's efforts to safeguard nuclear materials as the best in the DOE complex.
On the whole, the Lab received a rating of "satisfactory," the highest rating possible. The Laboratory received the satisfactory rating in every security category except unclassified computing, where the rating was "marginal." Through the Tri-Lab Information Security, the Laboratory is adding security protections to its unclassified network.
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson praised Browne and the Lab for taking aggressive, timely and cost-effective actions to improve security. Richardson singled out better computer security, protection of classified parts and nuclear materials accounting systems, along with the installation of additional intrusion alarm sensors and the hiring of more protective force personnel. Visit World Wide Web site http://www.doe.gov/news/releases99/seppr/pr99253.htm for the DOE news release.
Podonsky's team of about 30 inspectors reviewed all aspects of Laboratory security and made random visits to many facilities. The auditors gathered data in early August, returned in mid-month for a week of field work and concluded their audit at the end of the month. The DOE office, which until recently was known as the Office of Security Evaluation, released its findings today.
Podonsky and retired Gen. Eugene Habiger, the DOE's security "czar," praised the Laboratory for its commitment to improving security.
"You really have a first-class operation here," said Podonsky. "We intend to speak clearly and loudly on the Hill about (this audit) . . . It's time all your hard efforts got recognized."
Habiger called the recent charges of lax security at all three defense laboratories a "cultural problem." He added, "You are leading the way in the department for changing that culture."
During a brief news conference on Friday, Habiger told reporters that the audit results "indicate that we've turned the corner and the changes we initiated back in May are taking hold."
The purpose of the audits of the national laboratories was to examine the status of the protection of nuclear materials, classified information and classified materials, Podonsky said.
The DOE inspectors offered several specific comments on Lab security, including the following:
--Jim Danneskiold
Renowned paleontologist to discuss discoveries of early man
Professor Tim White will speak about his research team's most recent discoveries in Ethiopia and what they have revealed about the origins of man at a Director's Colloquium today.
The talk will begin at 1:10 p.m. in the Physics Building Auditorium. It is open to the public and will be broadcast on LABNET. For more information, see the Sept. 15 Newsbulletin.
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Lab Counsel offers guidance on dealings with investigators The Laboratory Counsel Office has issued a memorandum that provides guidance to employees who might be asked for documents or interviews by investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or U.S. Attorney's Office. Click here for the memo. |
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