The Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General says two major contractors at the Hanford Site in Washington State don’t always maintain respirators in accordance with government requirements.
The report said more attention to respiratory equipment is needed by Jacobs subsidiary, CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Co., and Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions.
CH2M is responsible for cleanup of the Central Plateau at Hanford and tearing down the Plutonium Finishing Plant, while WRPS manages, and treats radioactive tank waste and coordinates with Bechtel National, which is building the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.
“We initiated this audit to determine whether Hanford contractors were adequately maintaining respiratory protection equipment to protect workers from exposure to hazardous materials,” the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said in the report.
While the report did not specifically identify that unmaintained equipment was issued by either contractor, it did say that neither had documented controls in place to ensure that equipment received proper upkeep before being issued to workers in hazardous jobs.
Use of respirators without proper maintenance increases the risk that workers will inhale dangerous substances because the respirator does not work properly.
The review also found Bechtel’s occupational medical provider had not always fully completed evaluations to determine workers’ abilities to safely use respirators. A single problem respirator has the potential to increase the risk a worker could be exposed to hazards such as beryllium, vapors, or chemical wastes, according to OIG.
The review of records for 21 of CH2M’s powered-air purifying respirators 17 of them (81%) were not maintained within the 90-day and 180-day intervals recommended by the manufacturer. Many of these type respirators were used by workers tearing down the Plutonium Finishing Plant, according to OIG.
On average, maintenance for certain respirators used by WRPS was performed 99 days after the required maintenance due date, according to the report.
Managers at the CH2M and Washington River agreed with the OIG recommendations and plan steps to fix the problem.
The OIG recommendations include procedures to store used respiratory equipment separately from fully maintained respirators, along with certain recordkeeping and procedural changes.
Officials at the two companies declined further comment.
The Jacobs subsidiary is in its final months in charge of Central Plateau remediation, as an Amentum-led team starts its transition toward becoming the new prime on Oct. 5. Meanwhile, the incumbent tank prime is having its agreement extend up to Sept. 30, 2021 while DOE ponders whether to re-award a contract that it issued to a BWX Technologies-led group in May, then put on hold following a bid protest.
