Safety Culture Improvement Panel

The purpose of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Safety Culture Improvement Panel (SCIP) is to:

  • Establish a permanent, high-level organization within the DOE, devoted to: promoting safety culture;
  • Provide cross-organizational leadership focused on continuous safety culture improvement; and
  • Create an ongoing forum for the exchange of information and ideas to establish, monitor, and sustain measures that support a strong safety culture.

CHARTER

The SCIP operates consistent with the Revised SCIP Charter approved by Deputy Secretary David Turk on August 3, 2021. 

The initial Charter was approved by Deputy Secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on May 18, 2015. 

The charter defines the purpose, principles, objectives and activities, membership and responsibilities that guide SCIP actions.

SCIP Objectives and activities include:

Objectives:

  1. Promote and foster the implementation of safety culture and safety conscious work environment throughout DOE.
  2. Collect, develop, and share improvement and sustainment tools for positive safety culture.
  3. Promote high-level, line management attention to evaluating safety culture issues and strengths.
  4. Provide a forum for evaluating DOE safety culture status, progress, and challenges across the complex.
  5. Engage Federal and contractor representatives from across the DOE complex to improve DOE safety culture.
  6. Stay current in advances in organizational safety culture and how best practices can be applied to DOE.
  7. Identify opportunities to incorporate safety culture and safety conscious work environment (SCWE) concepts/practices into leadership and employee training, in coordination with DOE's National Training Center, the Federal Technical Capability Panel, and DOE's Chief Learning Officer.

Activities:

  1. Evaluate major Departmental policy and programmatic changes for their potential to impact DOE's safety culture, as requested.
  2. Provide recommendations on DOE's Directives to incorporate safety culture, SCWE concepts and associated best practices, as appropriate.
  3. Develop a means to monitor DOE's safety culture.
  4. Monitor trends that have the potential to impact safety culture within DOE and share trends with DOE line management.
  5. Benchmark Departmental Safety culture activities with those of similar external industries/organizations and share application across the DOE complex.
  6. Assist with implementing improvement actions as assigned by the Department's senior leaders.
  7. Evaluate contract language, as appropriate, for potential safety culture and SCWE impacts.

Strategic Plan

In May 2016, the SCIP reviewed its accomplishments during its first year and outlined a path forward in the SCIP Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan describes the SCIP’s goals for affecting and influencing behaviors across the Department in a manner that promotes establishing and maintaining a strong safety culture at DOE. The three Strategic Plan goals support the vision to make safety culture an integral part of DOE’s DNA include:  1) Affect behaviors to improve our work environment; 2) Make safety culture second nature to the way we do business; and 3) Learn from each other.

Information on SCIP’s membership and their working groups can be found by selecting these links or on the drop down menu above. 

OUTSTANDING SAFETY CULTURE AWARDS PROGRAM

In accordance with the SCIP Objectives discussed above, DOE has developed an awards program to recognize an individual or team for their superior or model actions, over a period of one fiscal year, that exemplify the desired behaviors identified in DOE G 450.4-1C, Integrated Safety Management System Guide, Attachment 10, Safety Culture Focus Areas and Associated Attributes.

These awards epitomize the dedication and commitment necessary to shift focus from mere compliance towards organizational excellence, while emphasizing continuous improvement and long-term performance.  The awards promote the Department’s long-standing tradition of recognizing DOE and contractor employees who go above and beyond the call of duty, while offering senior leaders and peers the opportunity to acknowledge significant individual or team accomplishments that have strengthened safety culture within the Department. 

The Outstanding Safety Culture Awards Program is comprised of three categories:

  1. Outstanding Safety Culture Award - Federal Employee
  2. Outstanding Safety Culture Award - Contractor Employee
  3. Outstanding Safety Culture Team Award

The DOE Individual and Contractor Individual Outstanding Safety Culture Award is awarded to a nominee that has achieved significant achievements related to safety culture initiatives, performed at the “Meets Expectations” level on their last performance appraisal, and been employed at least six months by the Department of Energy or a direct contractor of the Department. 

The Team Outstanding Safety Culture Award is awarded to group nominees that share a responsibility to review, develop, organize, manage, and/or track safety culture improvement initiatives. The team must have performed at the “Meets Expectations” level on their last performance, and been employed at least six months by the Department of Energy or a direct contractor of the Department.

For information on the OSC Award nominees and awardees, please click on the following links:

The Outstanding Safety Culture Awards Program recognizes Department of Energy federal and contractor employees with a non-monetary award acknowledging superior application of safety culture focus areas and attributes.

The Department will schedule the annual recognition ceremony during the SCIP Annual Meeting to acknowledge those individuals and/or teams selected for awards in each of the above three categories.  Each Under Secretary, Power Marketing Administration, and appropriate Departmental Element is encouraged to take full advantage of this program.

The Outstanding Safety Culture Awards Program guidance can be utilized as a reference for the 2024 Outstanding Safety Culture Award nomination and selection process.  A nomination form must be filled out and submitted to the applicable Program/Field Element Approving Official by January 17, 2025 (please download the form and open it in Adobe Reader or Adobe DC (Pro) for best use).  

The Program/Field Element must screen nomination packages and approve/submit only one nomination package for each category. Program/Field Element nominations are due by January 31, 2025, to [email protected].

A process flow diagram is attached which identifies each step in the process – from nomination to presentation of the award. Questions can be submitted to [email protected] or contact Julie Goeckner at 301-367-0684.

Contact Us

Safety Culture Improvement Panel
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585
Email: [email protected]