Title: | Technical Area Designation | Publication date: | 1/18/2022 | Effective date: | 2/21/2014 |
POLICYA. PurposeTechnical Area Designation is intended to facilitate communication between the technical area contact person (e.g., area safety leader, facility manager, lab lead principal investigator (PI), activity lead) and nonresident work planners and worker(s) regarding hazards that are associated within the workplace operation(s)/experiment(s) (i.e., not building/facility infrastructure). B. Persons AffectedLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) employees and affiliates who have been identified by their division as a technical area contact person. C. ExceptionsThere are no exceptions to this policy. All divisions must maintain a current list of all hazardous technical areas and contact persons for those technical areas. D. Policy StatementDivisions must identify technical areas in which work environment hazards exist that could potentially adversely affect worker health or safety (e.g., result in worker injury or sickness) if there is a potential for a worker to be exposed to hazards, which include radiological, chemical, industrial, biological, and other types of hazards. Divisions must identify a contact person and backup contact person for each technical area designated as hazardous. The contact person must have sufficient knowledge of hazards and controls associated with the operation(s)/experiment(s) (i.e., not hazards and controls associated with the building/facility infrastructure) within the area to communicate those hazards and controls to nonresident workers. Divisions must maintain technical area location and contact person information in an accessible technical area institutional database.
The Technical Area Designation process is intended to facilitate communication between the technical area contact person (e.g., area safety leader, facility manager, lab lead PI, activity lead), planners for work orders associated with that technical area, and the nonresident workers coming into that area to carry out assigned work. The primary purpose is to facilitate the technical area contact person's communication with nonresident planners and workers regarding hazards and controls associated with operations/processes/experiments (not including those associated with building/facility infrastructure) carried out in the technical area. A second purpose is to facilitate communication between the technical area contact person and nonresident workers to ensure the integrity of processes, experiments, and equipment in the technical area. D.1 Division-Specific RequirementsDivisions providing services performed by nonresident workers will have access to technical area location and contact person information. Divisions incorporate technical area information into their work planning and control following a risk-based approach. Before its workers enter a technical area, a division may require that the division assigned to that location release the space for the work scope performed by the nonresident workers (e.g., Facilities Division Work Order process). E. Roles and ResponsibilitiesRole | Responsibilities | Technical area contact person | - Maintains sufficient knowledge of hazards associated with the technical area's operation(s)/experiment(s) (i.e., not building/facility infrastructure) to communicate those hazards with nonresident worker(s).
| Division directors | - Ensure all spaces assigned to that division are evaluated for hazards and technical area designation.
- Ensure all division hazardous technical areas are identified and current in the institutional technical area database.
- Ensure that a contact person is assigned for each hazardous technical area and identified in the technical area institutional database.
| Facilities Division Director | - Maintains institutional software, procedures, and other support tools necessary for divisions to maintain technical area and technical area contact person information in the institutional technical area database.
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F. Definitions/AcronymsTerm | Definition | Activity lead | An activity lead is anyone who directs, trains, and/or oversees the work and activities of one or more workers in accordance with the Work Planning and Control program. Activity leads provide instruction on working safely and the precautions necessary to use equipment and facilities safely and effectively. Activity leads do not need to be line managers, HEERA-designated supervisors, or Berkeley Lab employees. | Technical areas | Technical areas generally include laboratories, shops, workrooms, and similar areas. Offices, conference rooms, food preparation, and consumption areas such as the cafeteria, kitchenettes, and break rooms are generally not technical areas. | Technical area contact person | The individual assigned by the division who has sufficient knowledge of hazards associated with the technical area's operation(s)/experiment(s) (i.e., not building/facility infrastructure) to communicate those hazards with nonresident worker(s). The technical area contact person may also be an area safety leader, manager, supervisor, or activity lead. | Work planner | An individual responsible for analyzing and planning work associated with a Work Order addressing infrastructure, building components, or equipment within a technical area. The most common examples of work planners are those working within the Facilities Division Operations and Services Department. | Worker – nonresident | A nonresident worker is one performing work in a technical area not under the control of the worker's activity lead, and where the work is not part of the program scope of the division owning the technical area | Work release | An approval for a nonresident worker to access and perform work in a Berkeley Lab space. | Worker – resident | A resident worker is one performing work in a technical area, where the work is part of the program scope of the division owning the technical area. A matrixed employee working in the host division technical area is generally considered a resident worker since that worker typically receives daily direction from the host group, department, or division. |
G. Recordkeeping RequirementsNone H. Implementing DocumentsTechnical Area Designation / Facilities Work Release System Work Planning and Control Program Manager J. Revision HistoryDate | Revision | By Whom | Revision Description | Section(s) Affected | Change Type | 2/21/2014 | 0 | M. Flynn | Initial release | All | Major | | 1/18/2022 | 1 | J. Heim | Periodic review: minor clarifications, no policy changes. | All | Minor |
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