Presentation of the safety award on Nov. 15 (left to right) Rich Ruthe, Victor Yarba, Cosmore Sylvester, Bill Bluis (representing Hayes Mechanical), and Jim Garvey. In the back- ground is one of the two helium tanks with a new stairway and platform. (Click on image for larger version.)

The request to improve safety by replacing the old platforms, which provide access to pressure valves, came from one of five Employees Grassroots Safety Committees at the Technical Division. "Our committee members are all non-supervisory personnel," said Dan Massengill, who chairs the TD grassroots committee of the Development & Test Department. "Most of the input from employees comes at our monthly meetings. The platforms were brought up at a meeting for the first time in March 2003."

The platforms were unsafe and didn't satisfy OSHA requirements. But it took some time to figure out a solution that would avoid the need for the pressure vessels to be recertified. "We had never done any welding to a pressure vessel," said Fermilab project engineer Cosmore Sylvester. The project was supported by funding from the Department of Energy earmarked for mitigating OSHA deficiencies at the lab. Fermilab hired Hayes Mechanical, which is certified to work on pressure vessels.

At its next meeting, the grassroots committee will remove the platforms from its things-to-be-done list. "We seem to have a good track record," said Massengill, who pointed out that cryogenic work offers unique and serious safety challenges. "Mostly we point out simple, easy-to-fix items," he said. "This was a big one."

"Every month a state-certified instructor gives us refresher courses, and we also take a state certified exam every four years," said the Fermilab Fire Department's EMS Coordinator, Captain Neil Dal Cerro. "On average, we have under 100 ambulance calls a year at Fermilab. But occasionally we do get called, and we're always here to help." Members of Fermilab's Fire Department are certified in basic life support, meaning that they are trained to do everything that a paramedic does such as CPR, bandaging, splinting and auto extrication, but they cannot administer intravenous drugs or medications.

Fermilab's ambulance also goes to some off site emergencies. "We probably get called two to three times a year off site to transfer people in our basic life support ambulance," said Dal Cerro. "We have responded to several accidents on Kirk Road and have provided backup to such towns as Geneva, St. Charles and Warrenville. In turn, if we need backup, they will respond to us." Fermilab's Fire Department also has an engine that is fully stocked with emergency equipment, including a defibrillator, just in case a call comes in while the basic life support ambulance is off site.

Dal Cerro estimates that 90 percent of Fermilab's firefighters also work in other local fire departments. "Even though we lack fires out here, they get experience elsewhere," he said. "They are all dedicated guys, who like to work hard."