A subcontract worker on Hanford’s River Corridor Closure project earlier this month found out the hard way just how portable a Porta-John can be, according to a recently released Department of Energy occurrence report. On Oct. 5, a forklift operator picked up and moved a chemical toilet while it was still occupied by a teamster at Hanford’s 100D Area. “The forklift operator picked up the toilet 12-18 inches and backed up approximately 15 feet crossing a gravel haul road. The teamster could not open the toilet door because the door was against the loading rack of the fork lift,” the DOE report states. “The fork lift operator then set the chemical toilet on the ground and exited the cab of the fork lift, to secure the toilet to the loading rack. At that time, he heard the sounds of the teamster inside the chemical toilet. The fork lift operator immediately backed his equipment up to clear the door of the chemical toilet, which allowed the teamster to exit.”
Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 29 No. 08
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Morning Briefing
Article of 10
March 17, 2014
HANFORD PORTA-JOHN INCIDENT A
The incident did not result in any injuries or damage to equipment, according to the report. “The [fork lift] operator stated that he observed the color green on the indicator, meaning the toilet was not occupied. … In this case the letters OPEN lacked definition and the original colors were faded as most of the colors related to the indicator. The cover over the indicator was weather beaten and opaque. The combination of these conditions may have contributed to the words on the occupancy indicator being misread,” the report states. In a written response yesterday, Washington Closure Hanford spokesman Todd Nelson said, “This was an unusual circumstance. It was one of those situations where it’s hard not to laugh. But those can also be learning experiences. We used it as an opportunity to reinforce with employees the need to follow procedures, check and double check surroundings and work areas for safety hazards, and clear work areas of nonessential personnel before starting work. Fortunately, the incident did not result in injury.”