OSHA enforcement at Energy Department contractor facilities

JUN 22 1990

The Honorable Norm Dicks
House of Representatives
[Recipient address omitted]

Dear Congressman Dicks:

Thank you for your letter of May 10, addressed to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), concerning compliance with the OSHA standards at Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear facilities, and at the Hanford Reservation in particular.

Under Section 4(b)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and Section 161(i)(3) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, employees of DOE government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) facilities are exempted from OSHA enforcement activity. There are 102 GOCO facilities nationwide. The Hanford Reservation consists of several GOCO facilities.

OSHA, under Secretary Dole's guidance, has offered to assist the DOE by performing a comprehensive evaluation of the DOE safety and health program for GOCOs. Secretary Watkins has accepted our offer and the evaluation is now underway. Current plans call for three teams of OSHA professionals to visit eight DOE Operations Offices and eight GOCO facilities during the months of May through August, 1990. The Pacific Northwest Laboratory in Richland, Washington, (located on the Hanford Reservation) is included among the GOCO facilities to be visited.

A report on the findings of this evaluation is expected to be available to the DOE by October 1990. The report will identify strengths and weaknesses in the DOE safety and health program for GOGO facilities and offer recommendations to Secretary Watkins for enhancing the program. The systemic issues that affect the DOE's safety and health program for compliance with OSHA's standards at GOCOs will be addressed in the report. The report, however, will not address specific compliance problems (violations of OSHA standards) at individual GOCO sites, because OSHA is not conducting traditional inspections at the sites.

We are convinced that Secretary Watkins is fully committed to improving safety and health conditions at all GOCO facilities. OSHA, as well, is committed to providing as much assistance as possible to Secretary Watkins in this effort. This cooperative effort, we are sure, will be successful.

We appreciate your interest and concern in bringing this matter to our attention.

Sincerely,
Gerard F. Scannell
Assistant Secretary

[May 10 congressional letters reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]