A major safety overhaul

A redefined policy, a revamped safety course, an environmental project... the TIS (Technical Inspection and Safety) Division has begun a major safety overhaul. Its new head, Wolfgang Weingarten, explains to the Bulletin why and how this is happening.

1) With the publication of a new version of the SAPOCO 42 document, CERN's safety policy has just been redefined. How has the policy changed?
The main reason for updating the policy is in order to make a clear distinction between safety policy and the way this policy is applied. The document published a few days ago defines the policy. The rules of application will be published separately in specific Safety Codes. In the new version the emphasis is on protecting the environment, delegating safety matters and supervisor responsibility. Because it is the supervisors who are responsible for ensuring the safety of those being supervised and not the TIS Division, as people sometimes wrongly think. In other words, safety follows the conventional hierarchy. The role of the TIS Division is to provide advice in order to check that the safety and environmental protection rules are being followed. It is also TIS's job to raise awareness among the staff, put the emphasis on identifying hazards and find ways of reducing them.

2) This is precisely why some CERN staff members sometimes think that the members of TIS are there to tell them what they can't do. What would you say to them?
TIS provides a monitoring and advice service, but we certainly don't have a policing role! I think it's important to stress the distinction between the executive role, which is the responsibility of the hierarchy and all the safety officers (DSO, TSO, etc.), and the advice and monitoring role, which is the responsibility of the members of TIS. Of course the Division is directly responsible for some safety aspects, such as calculations relating to radiation-protection arrangements and procedures or dealing with problems associated with chemical and radioactive waste. But safety in general is a matter for everyone and for line management in particular.
3) What impact has the installation of the LHC had on safety policy?
Among other things, we have stepped up prevention in the fields of cryogenic and contract staff safety. We have recruited safety co-ordinators for the LHC construction sites. We are also keeping a very close eye on the legal and practical aspects associated with classification of LHC areas as Basic Nuclear Facilities (INBs), just as we did in the case of LEP. Lastly, and most importantly, we have again updated the safety course for new staff, allowing us to step up access controls at various areas on the CERN site.

4) What are the major new features of the safety course?
The safety course for new staff has been completely revamped. We have also increased the number of fire safety training officers to eleven. In the last 18 months 3,800 people have attended the course, which is now held in additional languages such as Russian, German and Italian. Another change is that the role of the territorial safety officers (TSOs) has been enhanced. We have increased the number of courses for TSOs and also changed the content of the sessions to make them more practical. In 2002, half of the TSOs received training. In addition, all those who have attended safety sessions can now be traced centrally via the HR Division database. But we haven't finished yet and we're continuing to update the course content.
5) What other plans does the TIS Division have?
We have launched an environmental project that includes more sophisticated methods of measuring air quality, water discharge and radiation monitoring for the LHC. The objective is to set up an environment management system that will systematise how we control the impact of CERN's activities on the environment. This system will include measurement of any deviation from the set objective and feedback to improve the results. This is a pilot project for all safety matters developed by the new Integrated Safety and Environment (IE) Group. This group is also responsible for systematic application of the environmental approach adopted to all aspects of safety and for extending it to other fields such as quality assurance.

See also the new version of the SAPOCO 42 document and the TIS Division's Web site