Awards, awards, awards
DOE, Renew America and others recognize Energy Systems employees and programs as winners
DOE Energy Quality Award
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A hero gets recognized
Willie Green of Facilities Management Organization is a guy who’s been in the right place at the right time, twice.
In September, Green realized an employee was choking on a popcorn kernel that had gotten lodged in his throat. He performed the Heimlich Maneuver on the employee and, after four attempts, the kernel finally was dislodged and the employee's breathing restored.
This is not the first time Green has come to the aid of an employee that was choking. A few years ago, he used the Heimlich Maneuver on another employee who approached him and motioned that he was choking.
“I recognized both people were choking immediately,” said Green. “I learned how to do the Heimlich Maneuver a while back, so I didn’t hesitate a second to help them.”
Green was recognized for his heroic act during the Procurement, Property and Materials awards ceremony in October. He is shown here, at left, receiving his award from Procurement, Property and Materials Director Charlie Kirkpatrick.
Health Services staff can show you how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. Just call them at 574-1577 and ask for one of the staff to give you a demonstration. Photo by Tommy Maxwell
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DOE presents six levels of Quality Awards: excellence, achievement, accomplishment, champion, improvement and commendation.
Analytical Services received the Quality Achievement Award and is one of only three organizations across the Energy Department complex receiving this level of quality award, the highest level given by DOE this year. Protective Services received the Quality Commendation Award.
The 1998 criteria for the awards are: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management and business results. The awards were presented by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in a ceremony in Washington.
“While the recognition is nice,” said Dan Robbins, director of ASO, “what’s also important is the value that comes from the process itself as it forces a self-examination of the processes we use and the relations we have with our customers and our employees.”
Mike Sullivan, director of Protective Services, said the award “is recognition of the men and women who provide world-class security services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I am proud to be associated with these quiet professionals, who perform a difficult and, in some cases, a potentially dangerous job.”
The Energy Quality Award is used to help organizations throughout the DOE complex demonstrate “superior value to their customers” by promoting the adoption of the quality ethic through the use of criteria for the national Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award, which was created to promote an understanding of the requirements for performance excellence and competitiveness improvements and to promote sharing of information on successful performance strategies.
ASO’s 220 employees provide a broad range of analytical chemistry services including organic, inorganic, bioassay, and radiochemical analyses; material characterization, sampling; and analytical development services.
The 603-person Energy Systems Protective Services Organization provides Protective Force and other security services for Energy Systems, DOE, Bechtel Jacobs Company and ORNL.
Renew America Award
Programs in Chlorofluorocarbon Phase Out, Energy Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality at the Y-12 Plant have been selected to receive Renew America’s Environmental Achievement Award.Achieving the award includes listing in Renew America’s Environmental Success Index, a compilation of almost 1,600 of the most successful, effective, replicable solutions to environmental concerns, accessed by researchers, public officials, community groups, businesses and others nationwide.
The Index, which is available both in print and on the Web, includes programs under 26 different categories such as transportation efficiency, solid waste management and open space protection.
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Technical Fellowship program is good for employees and Y-12
Energy Systems employees Penny Cunningham (second from right), seen here shaking hands with Vice President for Defense Programs Lew Felton, and Ed Ripley (second from left), seen here shaking hands with Programs Manager for Defense Programs Vernon Gordon, have been named the first recipients in the Company’s Technical Fellowship Program (TFP).
The program was created as a means to develop and retain skills and knowledge critical to the Y-12 Plant’s Defense Programs missions. The program pays costs of pursuing an advanced degree in a selected field, and full salary and benefits to the selected employee while attending graduate school.
Margaret Morrow, deputy vice president for Defense Programs, said the technical fellowships are a positive development for Y-12 and the future of the Defense Programs mission in Oak Ridge. “As a company, Energy Systems is fortunate to have employees such as Penny and Ed who are willing to take on the challenge of earning advanced degrees in areas that will help us maintain and carry forward the skills and knowledge vital to our national security missions,” she said.
Cunningham, a research engineer in the Development Division, is pursuing a master’s degree in chemical engineering. Ripley, who works in Enriched Uranium Operations, is working toward a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering. Both are attending the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
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During FY 1997, the Y-12 Plant reduced building energy consumption 7.5 percent and saved more than $2.5 million from the previous year’s levels. Y-12 has reduced building energy consumption 43.1 percent from the base year of FY 1985, thereby achieving one of the largest energy reductions of any DOE facility.
Y-12 also reduced CFC emissions more than 80 percent from FY 1992 levels, and has an on-going, line-item project to retrofit and replace air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment and use alternate refrigerants that will not harm the stratospheric ozone layer.
Anna Slafer, executive director of Renew America said that “by recognizing the excellent work of these innovative programs, we help motivate the individuals involved to continue their efforts to improve the environmental quality of their communities and share their successes with others.”
Programs to be included in the Index are evaluated on the basis of: program effectiveness, natural resource conservation, economic progress and human development. Each qualifying program has passed through a rigorous three-stage review process including a review by the National Awards Council for Environmental Sustainability, which is made up of 60 national environmental, nonprofit, government and business organizations including the National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Environmental Law Institute, Earth Voice, AT&T, National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution. Renew America is a national not-for-profit agency that conducts a nationwide search and recognizes programs that provide innovative solutions to tough environmental challenges.
Y-12 Award of Excellence
Members of the Defense Programs Pre-College Enrichment Program (DP-PREP) team have received the Y-12 Award of Excellence.DP-PREP was started by DOE to help introduce students to careers in manufacturing. The program was developed to ensure a workforce that is able to work with DOE’s national security mission. DP-PREP supports historically black colleges and universities and minority institutions from eight states and has reached more than 2,100 students and teachers through the program at Y-12 and on the respective college campuses.
The Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) provides teachers and students with hands-on experience in manufacturing to support the program. Manufacturing experts hold series of workshops at the ORCMT Skills Campus. They guide participants through activities in manufacturing processes.
Y-12 gives an award of excellence to recognize employees and teams who have shown unique dedication to the plant, its mission and their fellow employees.
Members of the DP-PREP are Ed Chabot, facilities management; Ken Chipley, engineering; Sam Hart, general manufacturing; Bobby Hicks, general manufacturing; John Owens, depleted uranium operations; Debbie Sumner, technology services; Rod Taylor, engineering; Nick Varsalona, facilities management and Mike Wyrick, facilities management.
President's Award
Recipients of the quarterly Energy Systems Presidents’ Award were honored at a luncheon November 11.Projects receiving awards included the Y-12 Photography Digital Imaging Project, which has allowed Y-12 Photography Services to replace 25 percent of the traditional chemistry-based photographic process through substation of digital non-chemistry based photographic technology.
The reduction of chemistry purchases by an average of 63 percent resulted in 58,725 gallons/yr. decrease in waste discharge to be treated in the sanitary sewer systems. This project has a return on investment of 75 percent and an annual cost savings of $184,505 to the Y-12 Plant.
Team members included Anna Anderson, Linda Cantrell, Kathy Fahey, Tommy Maxwell, Jim Mottern, Carol Trentham and Terry Marler.
The Innovative Method to Reduce Glovebox Fabrication Costs project team is responsible for the implementation of the innovative method of water jet cutting (WJC) to produce a more cost-effective way to fabricate Y-12 gloveboxes.
The new method of WJC fabrication has far surpassed the conventional method of laser cutting for fabrication by reducing the number of welds that are needed in the construction, this has increased the structural integrity and reduced future problems of potential leaks in the gloveboxes.
In addition to the improvement of the final product, the use of the new WJC process for fabrication of gloveboxes has also produced a cost savings of approximately $38,000.
Team members include Gerry Lively, Engineering; and Rick Craze, General Manufacturing.
The Y-12 Decontamination project is responsible for decontamination and removal two of the ten storage yards at Y-12. In the past, storage areas across the site were used as repositories for un-containerized, contaminated equipment, vehicles and scrap material.
At the remaining yards, overgrowth of vegetation was removed, green-screen fencing was installed and radiological signs were replaced. In addition to the storage areas, decontamination of 70,000 square feet of indoor contaminated space was accomplished in several area buildings to fixed contamination levels.
Accomplishment of these decontamination goals achieved a reduction in future costs for protective clothing/equipment and in man-hours consumed for difficult access to contaminated areas. With the accomplishment of these FY98 goals, a 5 percent incentive fee for the Y-12 Plant was achieved.
Team members include Armon Ballinger, Enriched Uranium Operations; Gwen Eagle, RADCON; Wayne Gibson, EUO; John Gilmore, EUO; Bill Gordon, RADCON; Gene Hess, Engineering; Ernie Heyward, EUO; Gloria Jones, EUO; Ronnie Prater, EUO; and Ron Williams, EUO.
