Employee Environmental, Safety, Health Concerns &
Differing Professional Opinions Programs
-> IMMEDIATE DANGER TO LIFE
SAFETY OR THE ENVIRONMENT
- Call 911
- After calling 911, call SLAC Security 650-926-5555 (ext 5555
with an on site phone)
- Then, notify your supervisor
- See SLAC's Environment, Safety & Health (ESH) Manual,
Chapter 37: Emergency Management for additional procedures, guidelines, contacts,
and resources
Note: This is applicable to all workers (i.e., staff, users,
subcontractors).
STOP WORK
(ESH Manual Chapter 2:
Work Planning and Control)
Every worker performing any work in or on facilities managed by SLAC has the authority and responsibility to
stop work for conditions that threaten imminent danger. SLAC considers no activity to be so urgent or important that its standards for environmental protection, safety, or health may be compromised. Employees have the right and responsibility not to perform tasks or activities they feel pose undue risk to themselves, co-workers, or the environment. Stop work actions take precedence over all other priorities and procedures. [More info]
-> CONCERNS THAT ARE NOT AN IMMEDIATE DANGER
Workers have the right to express concerns related to environment, safety, health, and security. SLAC has established procedures for all workers, including subcontractors and users, to report without fear of reprisal: hazards; incidents; and job-related injuries, illnesses. Additionally, you are encouraged to make recommendations about appropriate methods to control these hazards.
- Bring your concern to your supervisor or manager and/or your
ESH Safety Coordinator.
- If you are uncomfortable doing that, or you need independent support, please contact the ESH Employee Concerns Hotline at 650-926-4641, the ESH Service Desk at 650-926-4554 or the Chief Safety Officer,
Ian Evans, at 650-926-2192.
Alternatively, you can email
esh-safety@slac.stanford.edu (SLAC internal use only).
- If you believe your concerns have not been adequately addressed and further escalation is needed, you can utilize Stanford University Resources:
- You may also report concerns directly to the Department of Energy (DOE):
-> AREA SPECIFIC CONCERNS
The DOE ECP which encourages the free and open expression of employee concerns and provides DOE federal, contractor, and subcontractor employees with an independent avenue to raise any concern related, but not limited, to the environment, safety, health, and management.
THE DOE ECP IS DESIGNED TO:
- Encourage open communication;
- Inform employees of the proper forum for consideration of their concerns;
- Ensure employees can raise issues without fearing reprisal;
- Address employee concerns in a timely and objective manner; and
- Provide employees an avenue for consideration of concerns that fall outside existing systems.
The Deputy Secretary of Energy in his
August 3, 2021 memo states that, ‘The Department of Energy (DOE), including the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), established the Employee Concerns Program (ECP) to encourage the free and open expression of Federal, contractor, and subcontractor employee concerns; to provide an independent and formal avenue to raise those concerns; and to support a safety culture where employee concerns can be promptly identified and resolved without fear of reprisal or retaliation.’
EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Energy Department employees and any contractor or subcontractor fulfilling DOE's mission have the right and responsibility to report concerns relating to the environment, safety, health, or management of Department operations.
Free and open expression of Energy Department Federal and contractor and subcontractor employee concerns is essential to safe and efficient accomplishment of the Energy Department's missions.
EMPLOYEE CONCERNS REPORTING PROCESS
Employees are encouraged to report concerns to their immediate supervisors, or to Department field, headquarters, or contractor employee concerns programs within their own organizations, or to offices responsible for dealing with the particular subject matter of the concern.
DOE field and headquarters employee concerns offices are available to assist employees in determining the appropriate program to which a concern should be addressed and, when necessary, to itself take action to investigate and seek resolution of the concern.
The Headquarters Office of Employee Concerns will complement the various programs established to receive and evaluate employee concerns by assisting in the review of certain concerns when a more appropriate avenue does not exist for a final resolution.
Confidentiality is a cornerstone of an effective ECP and the investigation of concerns. Recognizing that some individuals will come forward only if they believe their identities will not be disclosed, the protection of confidential sources is a significant factor in ensuring the voluntary flow of information.
DOE ECP RELATED DOCUMENTS
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:
employeeconcernsprogram@hq.doe.gov
DOE has established a variety of work processes for its employees (including DOE Federal, contractor, and subcontractor employees) to raise concerns so that they can be assessed and appropriate actions taken. Employees are to use these processes to resolve issues at the lowest possible level. In rare cases, an employee may decide that despite those efforts, there remains a concern about a technical issue with potential for a significant impact on environment, safety or health. If you have such a concern and have tried unsuccessfully to ensure that it is adequately addressed through lower-level processes, please consider whether you should file a Differing Professional Opinion (DPO) using the DPO process (web link below) and as described in
DOE O 442.2 Chg 1 (PgChg),
Differing Professional Opinions for Technical Issues Involving Environmental, Safety, and Health Technical Concerns. If you decide to file, please read the DPO process in the link below, complete the suggested form and the relevant information, and submit your concern to the appropriate DOE DPO Manager.
An ESH Employee Concerns poster
version of this information is available.
For further information see the
DOE Directives, Guidance, and Delegations.
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