Participants in DOE's recent safety culture workshop in Idaho Falls gather for a photo, with some attendees holding safety messages.
Participants in DOE's recent safety culture workshop in Idaho Falls gather for a photo, with some attendees holding safety messages.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho EM and its Idaho National Laboratory Site contractor Fluor Idaho hosted two DOE complex-wide events last week, a safety culture workshop and information technology (IT) collaboration meeting.

At the workshop, speakers from throughout the DOE complex focused on improving safety cultures, measuring performance, and encouraging employee engagement. They emphasized the importance of sharing successes with other workshop attendees. Participants also discussed ways to collaborate and promote consistent implementation of policies and ideas to achieve safety culture excellence at DOE sites.

Fluor Idaho Environmental, Safety, and Health Director Kliss McNeel spoke highly of the workshop.

“It’s extremely beneficial to share safety culture successes with all sites across the complex,” McNeel said. “Although we may have different missions, waste types, and challenges, we all share a common goal and responsibility of keeping our employees safe.”

Federal and contractor employees from across the EM complex gather for a photo during the EM IT Collaboration Meeting. DOE Chief Information Officer Rocky Campione is third from right and EM Communications Director Jeanne Beard is ninth from right.
Federal and contractor employees from across the EM complex gather for a photo during the EM IT Collaboration Meeting. DOE Chief Information Officer Rocky Campione is third from right and EM Communications Director Jeanne Beard is ninth from right.
EM Idaho Manager Jack Zimmerman speaks during the EM IT Collaboration Meeting in Idaho Falls.
EM Idaho Manager Jack Zimmerman speaks during the EM IT Collaboration Meeting in Idaho Falls.
Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes addresses participants in the EM IT Collaboration Meeting.
Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes addresses participants in the EM IT Collaboration Meeting.

The EM IT Collaboration Meeting is a semi-annual event to collaborate on IT, operational technology, and cybersecurity, including how to most effectively enable EM’s cleanup mission. More than 45 federal and contractor employees from across the EM complex attended the meeting.

EM Communications Director Jeanne Beard, who led the meeting, said collaboration meetings with federal and contractor partners across EM headquarters and field sites are a highlight for her.

“What this hard-working group accomplishes is critically important to supporting the cleanup mission,” Beard said. “The collaboration on display and sharing across sites is the best thing about this meeting.”

DOE Chief Information Officer Rocky Campione noted that the meeting helped the Department with its continued cybersecurity improvements.

“The meeting provided a great opportunity to discuss how we can continue to improve our cybersecurity operations across the Department,” Campione said. “It was a great opportunity to listen to the team that continues to address the legacy that exists as a consequence of winning the Cold War."