Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
6/19/2015
The Energy Department on June 17 issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to UT-Battelle, LLC, which could result in a more than $130,000 fine for violations of DOE worker safety and health regulations, according to a DOE press release. “DOE proposes civil penalty of $131,250 based on the safety significance of the violations and in consideration of [UT-Battelle] as implementation of corrective actions to prevent recurrence,” the release states. Consisting of three Severity Level I violations and one Severity Level II violation, the violations are related with “program elements” for the assessment and control of ergonomic and material handling hazards associated with a “series of events” starting in 2013 that “resulted in serious injury” to two Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) workers, the release states.
The violations are enforceable under DOE’s Worker Safety and Health Program, according to the release. Specifically, DOE cited UT-Battelle for violations of management responsibilities, hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and abatement, and manual material handling limits and training and information, according to the release. UT-Battelle is the management and operating contractor for ORNL.
