Contents
Approved by John Heim
Revised 1/22
32.1 Policy
32.2 Scope
32.3 Applicability
32.4 Exceptions
32.5 Roles and Responsibilities
32.6 Definitions
32.7 Source Requirements
32.8 Other Driving Requirements
32.9 Implementing Documents
Note:
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🚩 Denotes the beginning of changed text within a section
🛑 Denotes the end of changed text within a section
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32.1 Policy
The Technical Area Designation policy is intended to facilitate communication between the technical area contact person (e.g., area safety leader, facility manager, lab lead principal investigator, activity lead) and nonresident work planners and worker(s), regarding hazards that are associated within the workplace operation(s)/experiment(s) (i.e., not building/facility infrastructure).
Divisions must identify technical areas in which work environment hazards exist that could potentially adversely affect worker health or safety (e.g., result in worker injury or illness) if there is a potential for a worker to be exposed to such hazards, which may include radiological, chemical, industrial, biological, or other types of hazards. Divisions must identify a contact person and backup contact person for each technical area designated as hazardous. The contact person must have sufficient knowledge of hazards and controls associated with the operation(s)/experiment(s) (i.e., not hazards and controls associated with the building/facility infrastructure) within the area to communicate those hazards and controls to nonresident workers. Divisions must maintain technical area location and contact person information in an accessible technical area institutional database.
The Technical Area Designation process is intended to facilitate communication between the technical area contact person (e.g., area safety leader, facility manager, lab lead PI, activity lead), planners for work orders associated with that technical area, and the nonresident workers coming into that area to carry out assigned work. The primary purpose is to facilitate the technical area contact person’s communication with nonresident planners and workers regarding hazards and controls associated with operations/processes/experiments (not including those associated with building/facility infrastructure) carried out in the technical area. A second purpose is to facilitate communication between the technical area contact person and nonresident workers to ensure the integrity of processes, experiments, and equipment in the technical area.
Divisions providing services performed by nonresident workers will have access to technical area location and contact person information. Divisions incorporate technical area information into their work planning and control following a risk-based approach. Before its workers enter a technical area, a division may require that the division assigned to that location release the space for the work scope performed by the nonresident workers (e.g., Facilities Division Work Order process).
32.2 Scope
See Section 32.3, below.
32.3 Applicability
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) employees and affiliates who have been identified by their division as the technical area contact person
Berkeley Lab employees, casual and participating visitors, affiliates, and subcontractors who perform work in technical areas
32.4 Exceptions
There are no exceptions to this policy. All divisions must maintain a current list of all hazardous technical areas and contact persons for those technical areas.
32.5 Roles and Responsibilities
| Role | Responsibility |
| Technical area contact person | Maintains sufficient knowledge of hazards associated with the technical area’s operation(s)/experiment(s) (i.e., not building/facility infrastructure) to communicate those hazards with nonresident worker(s). |
| Division directors | Ensure all spaces assigned to that division are evaluated for hazards and technical area designation. Ensure all division hazardous technical areas are identified and current in the institutional technical area database. Ensure that a contact person is assigned for each hazardous technical area and identified in the technical area institutional database. |
| Facilities Division Director | Maintains institutional software, procedures, and other support tools necessary for divisions to maintain technical area and technical area contact person information in the institutional technical area database. |
32.6 Definitions
| Term | Definition |
| Activity lead | An activity lead is anyone who directs, trains, and/or oversees the work and activities of one or more workers in accordance with the Work Planning and Control program. Activity leads provide instruction on working safely and the precautions necessary to use equipment and facilities safely and effectively. Activity leads do not need to be line managers, HEERA-designated supervisors, or Berkeley Lab employees. |
| Biosafety areas | Areas that are (a) biosafety containment areas or (b) other areas where there is potential exposure to biological materials that may be detrimental to human health (e.g., infectious or blood-borne pathogen materials). Biosafety containment areas include laboratory (e.g., Biosafety Level 1 and Biosafety Level 2), large-scale, plant, and animal containment areas. Areas with potential for exposure to blood-borne pathogen materials include, for example, some health care facility rooms. |
| Chemical laboratories | Laboratories where chemicals are handled |
| Craft Shop | Workshop where Facilities maintenance and construction craft/trades personnel perform work. Examples include, but are not limited to, the Plumbing Shop, the Electrical Shop, the Carpentry Shop, and the Lockshop. |
| Machine Shop | Workshop where materials are cut and shaped (machined) |
| Radiation areas | Any accessible area in which radiation levels could result in an individual receiving a deep dose equivalent in excess of 0.005 rem (0.05 millisievert) in one hour, 30 cm from the radiation source or from any surface that the radiation penetrates |
| Welding Shop | Workshops where materials are joined together by heating the surfaces to the point of melting and uniting them (welded) |
| Work release | An approval for a nonresident worker to access and perform work in a Berkeley Lab space. |
| Worker – resident | A resident worker is one performing work in a technical area, where the work is part of the program scope of the division owning the technical area. A matrixed employee working in the host division technical area is generally considered a resident worker since that worker typically receives daily direction from the host group, department, or division. |
32.7 Source Requirements
- 10 CFR 851.21, Worker Safety and Health Program – Hazard Identification and Assessment
- 29 CFR 1910.1030, Bloodborne Pathogens
- 29 CFR 1910.1200, Hazard Communication
- 29 CFR 1910.1450, Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories
- 10 CFR 835, Occupational Radiation Protection
32.8 Other Driving Requirements
- LBNL Senior Management Requirement
- Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, fifth edition, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Molecules, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Federal Register (current version)
32.9 Implementing Documents
- Technical Area Designation / Facilities Work Release System
- Personal Protective Equipment
- EHS Procedure 705, Radiological Work Permit Program
- Machine Safeguarding—Shop and Machine Safety
- Biosafety
- Chemical Safety Hazards and Controls
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