ABSTRACT

This nomination recognizes the Savannah River Site (SRS) Chemical Management Center (CMC) for both the comprehensive and effective on-site management of chemicals and for team members support of the revision to the DOE Chemical Management Handbook. For the two year period, FY2005 to FY2006, the CMC redistributed over 170,000 pounds of chemicals avoiding over $7.5 million of acquisition and waste management cost. The three volume handbook is a guide to lifecycle chemical management using Environmental Management System (EMS) / Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) principles to help sites develop and implement chemical management policies, procedures, and practices.

NOMINATION

The Savannah River Site (SRS) chemical management team has developed and implemented a comprehensive program that establishes chemical management as an integral business strategy and a cornerstone of the Site’s Environmental Management System (EMS) that is integrated with the SRS Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS). The CMC provides centralized control and effective management of chemicals at the SRS from procurement to disposition. The CMC has goals to reduce the volume and toxicity of chemical procurements and reduce chemical inventories and waste. During the past two years (FY05 and FY06), over 78 metric tons of hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals were dispositioned through reutilization on site, returned to vendors when possible, sold through sealed bid sales to approved vendors, and donated to local-area government institutions to promote good community service in order to reduce waste generation. Cost avoidance from CMC operations during the past two years was over $7.5 million.

The Chemical Management Center also significantly improved communications, inventory control programs and improved procurement techniques for chemicals. Using inventory control programs and improved procurement techniques, including “just in time” ordering processes, and through de-inventorying and chemical tracking activities, SRS has reduced its on-site chemical inventory from ~236 million pounds to less than 80 million pounds. This effort includes reduction in the number and volume of hazardous chemicals used in the industrial processes of the site. Inventory controls significantly improved Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) compliance issues at the SRS.

The SRS Chemical Management Program is a mature and cost effective business tool. The results indicate that the program is a successful model to other DOE sites, government, and private industry. Based on experience and success in developing the SRS program, Mr. Morgan, CMC Manager, volunteered to lead a team tasked with communicating chemical management practices to the DOE Complex. A three volume handbook was developed and published in 2004 as a guide for sites to use in developing and implementing chemical management policies, procedures, and practices.

In FY2006, Mr. Morgan again led a DOE Team consisting of over ten complex stakeholders, including two other members of the SRS CMC, to completely revise Volume 2 of the Handbook. The original Volume 2 edition consisted of descriptions of existing chemical management programs at various DOE sites. The new edition describes a model program to safely manage chemicals throughout their complete lifecycle. It provides methods and guidance for developing and implementing an effective Chemical Safety and Lifecycle Management (CSLM) program that supports the primary objective of reducing the frequency, severity and cost of chemical incidents as well as the cost of chemical usage. The CSLM program targets these objectives by emphasizing a common theme of protecting the workers, the public, and the environment through the application of Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) and Environmental Management System (EMS) principles at every stage of a chemical’s lifecycle.

The revised three volume handbook is available at the following DOE Headquarters web site, http://www.eh.doe.gov/chem_safety/. The handbook provides a comprehensive discussion of the entire life cycle of chemical products and their associated hazards. The Handbook is praised as a consensus roadmap for chemical management that is applicable at any level of risk throughout the complex.

CONCLUSION

The SRS CMC is recognized as a model program for chemical management. Using the SRS experience, a team of DOE Complex Stakeholders developed and published a comprehensive "Chemical Management Handbook". The SRS CMC Team’s effective management of on-site chemicals and the Team’s on-going desire to share its “best practices” and “lessons learned” represent the letter and spirit of “EMS Leadership.”