TITLE:	ES&H Manual
DOCUMENT ID:	3330 Stop-Work Orders

1.0 Introduction

Every Jefferson Lab employee, subcontractor, user, and DOE employee has the authority and responsibility to stop work for conditions that pose imminent hazard or danger. Jefferson Lab considers no activity to be so urgent or important that its standards for environmental protection, safety, or health may be compromised. Employees have the right and responsibility not to perform tasks or activities they feel pose undue risk to themselves, co-workers, or the environment. Stop-Work actions take precedence over all other priorities and procedures.

10 CFR Part 851 §851.20(b)(8) and the JSA Worker Safety and Health Protection Plan specifically give every worker the right to decline to perform an assigned task because of a reasonable belief the task poses an imminent risk of death or serious physical harm to the worker. Further, the worker has the right to stop work when the worker discovers employee, user, or subcontractor exposure to imminently dangerous conditions or serious hazards. This procedure is used for either of these conditions.

This chapter describes the Stop-Work process, follow-up actions, and the responsibilities for those who are involved in the process.

Hazards of lesser magnitude than imminent danger, should utilize the normal supervisory procedures, the services of area safety wardens, referral to ESH&Q professional staff, or the filling out of an ES&H Concern Report.

Imminent danger is a hazard or situation in which, if allowed to persist, is likely to cause an accident that will result in death, serious injury, significant property damage, or environmental impairment. Imminent danger is a hazard or situation which can be assigned a Risk Code (RC) of 4 according to the method provided in ES&H Manual Chapter 3210 Hazard Identification and Characterization.

Suspend Work is a statement made by one individual to another that the activity being performed or assigned to be performed is perceived to be a hazard to themselves or others.

Stop-Work Order: A definitive statement made openly that an imminent danger is present and all related work must stop immediately or that an assigned task poses risk of death or serious injury and will not be performed.

2.0 Responsibilities

Everyone at Jefferson Lab:

• Takes action to stop any unsafe act, activity, or condition that creates a hazard or imminent danger to themselves or others. This requirement is not influenced in any way by personal or organizational relationships.
• Responds to a Suspend Work or Stop Work Order by halting the operation in question expediently and safely.
• Takes action to stop acts or conditions they believe cause hazards or imminent dangers to themselves or others.
• Informs their supervisor/SOTR immediately of unsafe acts or conditions for which they have invoked a Suspend Work.
• Informs their supervisor/SOTR immediately if a Suspend Work has been issued to them.

Supervisors and Subcontracting Officer’s Technical Representatives (SOTRs):

• Monitor the area after a Stop Work Order is issued to ensure personnel safety until any required controls are in place
• Assure restart is authorized by the department or division manager
• Document actions taken
• Provide documented information to their Department Manager and others as required
• Ensure that the resolution is implemented and the hazard is not repeated
• Inform Department Manager, DSO, and AD of any Suspend Work or order (RC 3 or above)
• Ensure that a Task Hazard Analysis for the activity has been completed and is reviewed by ESH&Q

Division Director/Department Manager/Associate Director:

• Inform COO and/or Chief Scientist and ESH&Q of any stop work order.
• Investigate all Stop Work Orders within their department;
• Verify that the DSO is informed of any Stop Work Order;
• Ensure the required corrective actions are implemented including (where appropriate) provisions for hazard characterization, assessment, monitoring and surveillance to ensure the corrective action is effective;
• Issue written restart authorization (except in cases where there is dispute among the parties involved about the extent or type of corrective actions);
• Share investigation information; and
• Utilize information from others to prevent similar situations from happening again.

Chief Operations Officer and/or Chief Scientist

• When disputed cases arise, the associate director of the division in which the Stop Work Order has been levied shall authorize restart of operations only when satisfied that the hazard has been abated.
• Informs the Lab Director.

Division Safety Officers

• Advise the division manager or appropriate department manager on restarting an activity on which a stop-work order has been imposed. Participate in any Divisional incident investigation where appropriate.

Safety Wardens

• Assisting in the resolution of ES&H concerns brought to their attention.
• Assisting supervisors and DSO with resolution and follow-up action.

3.0 Process Steps

Use the following steps to resolve an Imminent Danger situation (Figure 1).

Step 1 – If you observe a serious hazard that requires immediate attention or are aware of an assigned task that poses risk of death or serious injury, then:

1. Warn any person who is at risk.

2. Ask the person to suspend work and discuss the hazardous situation. (If you are directed to suspend or stop work by a Suspend Work or Stop Work Order even if it is a perceived hazard, you must stop work.)

3. If you can resolve the issue on the spot, no further action or documentation is required, though consideration for broader lessons learned should be considered, unless it is a risk code 4 situation.

4. If the issue cannot be resolved, Issue a Stop Work Order and continue to Step 2.

5. If a Stop Work Order is issued, then immediately inform the supervisor/SOTR.

Step 2 – Immediately report the Stop Work Order to your supervisor/SOTR and the safety warden for the area. If the safety warden cannot be located, notify an ESH&Q professional.

Step 3 – The affected supervisor/SOTR shall then inform the department manager, DSO, and AD responsible for the work that a Stop Work Order has been issued.

Step 4 – If the hazard has already caused an injury or property damage, refer to ES&H Manual Chapter 5200 Incident/Injury Investigation and ES&H Manual Chapter 5300 Occurrence Reporting for more information.

Step 5 – The worker’s supervisor/SOTR or safety warden shall lockout and tagout any equipment that creates the hazard or imminent danger. Refer to ES&H Manual Chapter 6111 Administrative Configuration Control Using Locks and Tags for specific information on these procedures. Other suitable warning labels, barricades, locking devices, and so forth must be used to warn anyone not familiar with the Stop Work Order.

Documentation for Stop Work Orders

The worker’s supervisor documents the stop-work condition using a worksheet such as the one included at the end of this chapter. A copy of the worksheet is given to the line supervisor for the work, and copies are sent to the Division Safety Officer (DSO), department manager, and Office of Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement.

Following resolution of a stop-work issue, knowledgeable staff should consider providing a Lessons Learned to the ESH&Q Reporting Manager. (See ES&H Manual 5300 Appendix T3 Notable Event and Notification Procedure.)

Enforcement/Monitoring

• Enforcement of Stop Work Order is a line-management responsibility, and the worker’s supervisor/SOTR must ensure the activity does not resume until properly authorized.
• The supervisor/SOTR shall monitor the area for the duration of the Stop Work Order to ensure work does not resume until properly authorized.

Investigation

• The Department Manager shall initiate an investigation of every Stop Work Order within one work day and inform the DSO of Stop Work Orders and findings of investigation. ESH&Q professional staff should be utilized as a resource. The investigation and causal analysis shall include the following:

• What was the perceived hazard/imminent danger?
• Were established procedures for the operation being followed?
• Are existing procedures adequate?
• What must be done to prevent a recurrence?
• What must be done before the operation can resume?

• This information shall be provided to the department manager as soon as possible.
• A Stop Work Order may be investigated in greater detail as described in ES&H Manual Chapter 5200 Incident/Injury Investigation.

Restarting Work

The AD or equivalent determines if and when an operation may be resumed after a Stop Work Order has been initiated. This decision shall be based on all of the pertinent information, and it must be in written form and include any preconditions or procedural modifications. Copies of the Stop Work Order must be provided to:

• Line Supervisor of the Work
• Division Safety Officers
• Worker’s Department Manager
• Division Associate Director
• Office of Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement
• Employee initiating the stop work order

Disputes/Appeals

If anyone in the process believes that the restart authorization is not justified, or that modifications imposed as a precondition to the operation's restart are inadequate, any of them may appeal the restart decision to the division associate director. The AD will review the entire incident with the COO and the ESH&Q AD and determine if and when restart is appropriate. If there are restart disputes that are interdivisional in nature, the laboratory director or designee shall make the final decision.

4.0 Stop Work Order Worksheet

Instructions

To be filled out by the Operator’s Supervisor/SOTR and reviewed by the individual initiating the Stop Work Order. Document the incident as factually and objectively as possible.

Owner Division:	Department:
Location of Work Operations:	Date/Time:
Worker’s Supervisor/SOTR:	Phone:
Name of Employee Initiating Stop Work:	Phone:

Describe Work Operation or Condition (include names of employees or subcontractors):

Describe Hazard (as stated by initiator of stop-work action):

Additional Observations:

Date/Time DSO Informed:

Date/Time Dept. Manager Informed:

Record of Follow-up Action:

Work Restart Approval:
Supervisor:	Date:
ESH&Q Staff:	Date:
Dept Manager:	Date:
Associate Director:	Date:

Copies to: Line Supervisor for the Work

Division Safety Officers

Chief Operating Officer

Division Associate Director

Office of Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement

Employee initiating the stop work order

Retain the original, and use it to note any actions that are not taken to correct the hazard.

Ensure that the operation is not resumed until a copy of the restart authorization from the department manager or division associate director has been received. Make this worksheet and the restart notice part of the permanent safety file.