Are you an owner or a division coordinator of institutional policies in the Requirements and Policies Manual (RPM)? Do you have questions regarding the process for revising policies or considering introducing a new policy in the RPM? Schedule a virtual or an in-person appointment with the Requirements Management Program Manager to discuss your questions or concerns July 31 – August 1st. Those interested in reserving a 15-minute time slot, should click on the following link:
The Office of Institutional Assurance and Integrity’s (OIAI) Institutional Assessment Process (IAP) Owner is now hosting weekly Office Hours for Assessments. Need to modify the Integrated Assessment Schedule (IAS) and have a question about change control? Need a second set of eyes to look over your assessment plan? Discuss any questions related to assessments during an individual 15-minute office hours session. Those interested in reserving a 15-minute time slot, should click on the following link to discuss any questions.
This brief introductory overview (CAS 0101) will provide the participants with a general understanding of CAS, it’s value and high level application at the Lab. Regardless of your role, this overview will help participants understand why CAS is a crucial element in the Lab’s continued success and how you play an important role in its implementation.
The presentation is expected to be 30-40 minutes in length including a Q&A session over Zoom. There will be 2 separate sessions on July 26th at 10:00 and August 1st at 1:00.
As part of the DOE Contract 31, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) maintains a Contractor Assurance System (CAS) which includes an LBNL Issues Management Program (IMP) as documented in the PUB 5519 LBNL Issues Management Program Manual. In accordance with the Lab’s Institutional Issues Management Policy 04.02.003.000, an Apparent Cause Analysis (ACA) is required for any Medium risk event/issue occurring at the Laboratory. An ACA is a straightforward/basic analytical process that is used to determine the dominant plausible cause(s) of an issue by analyzing the events and conditions leading up to the issue occurrence.
To help the Laboratory Community perform quality ACAs, there is a new ACA template which replaces the current report as required in the PUB 5519. This new all-inclusive template captures various steps of the ACA process, has process guidance within the template, and serves as a final report for the ACA. This template introduces rigor, consistency and thoroughness to the ACA process. It guides the ACA team to consider aspects of an ACA which are critical for a comprehensive and quality ACA.
The new template can be found on the Office of Institutional Assurance and Integrity (OIAI) website’s Templates page as Getting Started with Apparent Cause Analysis Toolkit. Over the coming months, OIAI will be organizing ACA trainings which will include:
This training is expected to be 3 hrs long, and in-person would be preferred mode of delivery although zoom sessions can be organized for those who cannot make it on site. If you or any of your colleagues are interested in this training, please fill out the Google form and we will reach out to you based on interest, mode of delivery preferences, and availability of other participants.
As part of the Lab-wide effort, the Information Technology Division has updated the Requirements and Policies Manual (RPM) Confluence space. This update features a new, refreshed look, enhanced security, and a simplified process to edit RPM content.
December 22, 2021
Dear colleagues,
A final note of congratulations before we all take some much needed and deserved rest during this 2021 holiday season. Today, the Department of Energy publicly announced a summary of the results of its annual evaluation of the performance of the national laboratories. For us, this is the best set of grades the Lab has ever received, with an ‘A-’ or above in all eight categories, including an ‘A’ in the Mission Accomplishment category. You can learn more about the assessment process and see all of the grades here.
This success, of course, is due to the hard work and commitment on the part of everyone at Berkeley Lab who cares for the people, research, and resources that make the Lab’s mission possible, a responsibility we call stewardship. In delivering its evaluation, the Office of Science leadership also expressed great confidence in our Laboratory and recognized the exceedingly difficult circumstances under which we have operated this year.
No matter what your role is in performing and enabling our mission, we want to thank you for all that you do to ensure that we are successful, and for your commitment to our stewardship values: service, team science, innovation, trust, and respect. It is a privilege to lead this Lab.
Michael Witherell
Laboratory Director
Carol Burns
Deputy Lab Director for Research
Chief Research Officer
Michael Brandt
Deputy Lab Director for Operations
Chief Operating Officer
In June, the Lab’s chief operating officer sent a copy of the annual California Whistleblower notification to Lab employees. This notification reminds employees of the avenues to bring forward concerns of potential employee misconduct that pertains to improper governmental activities, such as corruption, theft and misuse of government property, fraudulent reporting, coercion, willful omission to perform duty, and gross professional misconduct to name a few behaviors. In a Laboratory environment, this could be professional credential misrepresentation, falsifying/improper timekeeping, theft or vandalism of Laboratory property, travel/expense reimbursement fraud, abuse of authority, nepotism/favoritism, egregious policy violations, and harmful lack of integrity/dishonesty. This area may be confusing and appear to overlap with other reporting channels for safety, human resources, and research misconduct matters. Please take a minute to read more about whistleblower and whistleblower protection.
The Lab has expectations and processes in place to detect and deter individuals from engaging in improper governmental activities, but even these mechanisms are not absolute safeguards against intentional or unintentional improprieties. Whistleblower reporting is when an individual sees or suspects an impropriety and makes a “good faith” communication (a reporting) that discloses or demonstrates an intention to disclose information that may evidence an improper governmental activity for the purpose of remedying that condition.
As part of the University of California (UC) system and one of the DOE national laboratories, Laboratory employees and affiliates have a responsibility to conduct their work on behalf of the Laboratory in an ethical manner and in compliance with the federal and state laws. This is essential to enable the Laboratory to pursue and fulfill its scientific mission. Whistleblower reporting demonstrates the Laboratory’s commitment to provide a work environment that promotes ethical and professional practices, and ethical treatment for all members of the Laboratory community and those who interact with the Laboratory. This environment is communicated through the UC Statement of Ethical Values and Standards of Ethical Conduct, and the Laboratory’s stewardship values. Members of the Laboratory community are expected to embody these values. Whistleblowing reporting provides the check and balance to foster a healthy and safe work environment.
If you see something, say something as there are many ways to bring this type of activity forward, such as:
1. Discussing the allegation/concern with:
2. Making a report through the UC systemwide whistleblower hotline: at http://universityofcalifornia.edu/hotline or by calling 1-800-403-4744. This hotline allows for anonymous reporting and is independently-operated to receive calls or web-based reporting, capable of receiving reports in a number of different languages and staffed seven days a week, 24 hours per day.
UC and the Lab have policies and processes in place to protect individuals from retaliation for reporting suspected allegations of improper governmental activities and other concerns. Individuals may contact Theresa Triplett at TATriplett@lbl.gov or 510-486-7401 or in person to discuss and/or report the situation.
Employees and affiliates have the right and the responsibility to report improper governmental activities without fear of reservation and reprisal as part of their UC and Lab stewardship responsibility of federal government and university resources. Whistleblower and Whistleblower Protection processes are essential to support an ethical, fair, healthy and safe work environment. Please visit the Whistleblower Allegations and other Employee Concerns webpage for more information.
In December 2020, The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environment, Health, Safety, and Security (EHSS) debuted the new DOE OPEXShare Lessons Learned Database. The new DOE OPEXShare replaces the DOE Corporate Lessons Learned Database as the central repository for Lessons Learned and Best Practice briefings across the DOE complex. Users may log in to view, like, comment, and share Lessons Learned or Best Practice briefings. The DOE OPEXShare Database is in compliance with DOE Order 210.2A, DOE Corporate Operating Experience Program.
LBNL staff can access the new DOE OPEXShare Lessons Learned Database directly from the LBNL Lessons Learned Database page. Users of the Hanford OPEXShare Database can login with the same user ID, but will need to update their password the first time they log in. New users may request access via the website at https://doeopexshare.doe.gov/. All new accounts must use their LBNL email account. All LBNL registrations to the DOE OPEXShare Database will be approved by the LBNL Lessons Learned and Best Practice Coordinator.
For guidance on how to use the DOE OPEXShare Database, how to create a LBNL lessons learned or best practice briefing, or share a briefing to the LBNL Database, please contact the Office of Institutional Assurance and Integrity’s (OIAI) Lessons Learned and Best Practice Coordinator, Gaby Caparimo (gcaparimo@lbl.gov). We are looking forward to helping you discover and share new lessons learned with your colleagues!
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