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SECTION 1          BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

SECTION 2          AUTHORITY FOR ISSUING DIRECTOR’S ORDER #50B

SECTION 3          POLICIES, REQUIREMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

SECTION 1          PROGRAM ELEMENTS AND WORK PLANS

SECTION 2          SAFETY AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH STANDARDS

SECTION 3          PROGRAM EVALUATIONS

SECTION 4          INSPECTIONS AND ABATEMENT

SECTION 5          ACCIDENT/INCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS/REPORTING

SECTION 6          EMPLOYEE REPORTS OF UNSAFE CONDITIONS AND WORK PRACTICES

SECTION 7          EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

SECTION 8          STAFFING SAFETY/OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH POSITIONS

SECTION 9          SAFETY/OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH TRAINING

SECTION 10          AWARDS AND SAFETY PROMOTIONS

SECTION 11          OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH (INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE) AND MEDICINE (MEDICAL
                                SURVEILLANCE)

SECTION 12          FIRE SAFETY

SECTION 13          JOB HAZARD ANALYSIS (JHA)

SECTION 14          PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEALTH

SECTION 15          MOTOR VEHICLES

SECTION 16          PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

SECTION 17          CONTRACTOR SAFETY

SECTION 18          OFF-THE-JOB SAFETY

SECTION 19          RESERVED: ("RADIATION SAFETY" UNDER DEVELOPMENT)

SECTION 20          SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION SOURCES

SECTION 21          HELPFUL TERMINOLOGY

Approved:/s/ Robert Stanton (signed original on file)
Director, National Park Service

Effective Date: December 22, 1999

Sunset Date: December 22, 2003

The National Park Service (NPS) has a continuing concern about the health and safety of its employees and others who spend time in the parks–whether as visitors, volunteers, contractors, concession employees, or in any other capacity. Those who participate in work or recreational activities in the parks are always, to some extent, exposed to the risk of accident, injury or illness. In recognizing this, the NPS is committed to reducing these risks and the associated pain, suffering, and financial expense.

The overall purposes of the NPS risk management program are to establish and implement a continuously improving and measurable risk management process that: (1) provides for the occupational safety and health of NPS employees; (2) provides for the safety and health of the visiting public; and (3) maximizes the utilization of NPS human and physical resources, and minimizes monetary losses through effective workers’ compensation case management. The primary focus of this Director’s Order 50B is the occupational safety and health of NPS employees. Visitor safety and health is the primary focus of Director’s Order 50C (in preparation as of this writing); and worker’s compensation case management is the primary focus of Director’s Order 50A.

NPS Guideline, NPS-50, is superseded and replaced by this Director's Order, and by Reference Manual 50B, which provides more detailed guidance on how the NPS will implement occupational safety and health management policies and procedures.

Special Directive 95-4 (governing automatic sprinkler and smoke detection requirements) is superseded and replaced by the policies, requirements, and responsibilities contained in this Director’s Order, and by the Fire Safety section of Reference Manual 50B.

NPS Guideline NPS-14 (on the subject of cave radiation safety) is superseded and replaced by the policies, requirements, and responsibilities contained in this Director’s Order, and by the Radiation section of Reference Manual 50B.

2. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE THIS DIRECTOR’S ORDER

The authority to issue this Director’s Order and the associated Reference Manual is contained in 16 U.S.C. 1 through 4 (the National Park Service Organic Act) and the delegations of authority contained in Part 245 of the Department of the Interior Manual.

Other important legal, regulatory, and policy requirements are contained in 29 USC 651-678, (the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970); Executive Order 12196 (Occupational Safety and Health Programs for Federal Employees); Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 1960 (Elements for Federal Employee Occupational Safety and Health Programs); and Director’s Order #83: Public Health and Reference Manual 83.

3. POLICY, REQUIREMENTS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES

This Director's Order sets forth the policy, requirements, and responsibilities for managing an effective Occupational Safety and Health program within the National Park Service.

We hold the safety and health of the visiting public, our employees, contractors, and volunteers, to be a core value of the National Park Service. Therefore it is our policy to provide for a safe and healthful place of employment, and to protect Federal and private property from accidental damage or loss associated with National Park Service operations. To implement this policy, NPS employees will comply with Director’s Orders #50A and #50B.

The National Park Service will:

A. Promote and enforce safe work practices and integrate safety and health into every operation and activity.

B. Require that employees comply with the procedures in Reference Manual #50B: Occupational Safety and Health.

C. Meet or exceed all applicable statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements relating to safety, health, and the environment. Where conflicts arise between codes and standards, the more stringent requirement(s) will be used. If codes, standards, procedures, and guidelines do not exist, or those that exist are not adequate, appropriate requirements will be developed.

D. Manage Workers' Compensation (OWCP) cases, reducing OWCP lost work hours, due to injury or illness, to the lowest level possible, as required in Director's Order #50A: Workers' Compensation Case Management.

E. Identify recognizable threats to employee safety and health and to the protection of property, by applying nationally accepted codes, standards, engineering principles, and the guidance contained in this Director's Order #50B. Where practicable and not detrimental to NPS mandates to preserve park resources, known hazards will be reduced or removed. If the hazard cannot be eliminated, efforts will be made to provide for persons' safety and health through other controls, including closures, guarding, signing, or other forms of education.

F. Evaluate occupational safety and health management programs annually, and revise as appropriate.

G. Inspect every NPS workplace, as outlined in Reference Manual #50B, section 4, and correct deficiencies in priority order to meet all applicable standards.

H. Report accidents/incidents on the Department of Interior Safety Management Information System (SMIS), and investigate them to identify causal factors and determine appropriate corrective actions.

I. Require that no employee be subjected to restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal for reporting an alleged unsafe or unhealthful working condition or act, or for otherwise participating in risk management activities.

J. Maintain a cadre of trained and qualified safety and health professionals to provide technical support and advice to all managers.

K. Provide employees the supervision, knowledge, equipment, and skills necessary to safely perform their assigned tasks.

L. Make safe behavior a condition of employment, and require that employees and supervisors work together to identify and mitigate unsafe and unhealthful conditions, activities, and behaviors.

M. Incorporate and enforce appropriate safety and health performance clauses in contracts, licenses, and permits, and establish a system of accountability for safety performance for all employees.

N. Establish procedures for structural fire prevention and fire protection, meeting the requirements of Reference Manual 50B, section 12, "Fire Safety," and Director’s Order #58: Structural Fire.

O. Promote and enforce the safe operation of motor vehicles and equipment.

1. Sets forth Service-wide occupational safety and health policies and goals, and establishes a system of accountability for accomplishment of those policies and goals.

2. Issues Director's Orders to meet safety and health needs of the Service.

3. Designates an Agency Safety and Health Official (Bureau DASHO).

1. Serves as the "Designated Agency Safety and Health Official" (DASHO) for the National Park Service. Participates in Departmental DASHO Council meetings.

2. Exercises the authority of the Director to develop and manage the Service's occupational safety and health program that results in the achievement of this policy.

3. Issues an occupational safety and health program reference manual (Reference Manual 50B) to provide detailed information on specific implementation requirements and strategies for an occupational safety and health program in the NPS.

4. Appoints and directly supervises the NPS Risk Management Program Manager (meeting OPM Standard GS-018/803). Provides adequate resources for the effective implementation and administration of the Program.

5. Appoints, or authorizes the appointment of, a Serious Accident Investigation Team Leader for the immediate investigation of serious accidents involving the National Park Service.

6. Authorizes a Risk Management Council for the purpose of providing advice and assistance to the NPS Risk Management Program Office and to the Service’s Designated Agency Safety and Health Official (DASHO) on policy, programs, and concerns that are national in scope.

7. Authorizes an evaluation of regional and service centers’ risk management programs, at least once every 3 years.

1. Serves as a professional advisor/consultant to assist the Associate Director, Park Operations and Education, and the National Leadership Council in their development of Service-wide risk management policy, direction, and goals.

2. Conducts, or coordinates periodic program reviews of Regions and Centers, at least once every three years.

3. Provides professional occupational safety and health program assistance, and manages resources in support of Service-wide policy and programs

4. Provides data to managers relating to employee occupational injuries and illnesses.

5. Participates in the Department's Safety and Health Council.

6. Serves as a liaison, and coordinates activities between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Park Service.

1. Provides leadership and guidance to accomplish NPS risk management policies and goals, and holds operating unit managers accountable for implementing effective occupational safety and health management systems.

2. Appoints a Regional Risk Manager.

3. Prepares an annual risk management work plan.

4. Provides periodic program review of park units using the Risk Management Program Elements as minimum criteria, at least once every three years.

5. Recognizes and rewards safety achievement.

6. Appoints a senior subordinate to serve as the regional Designated Safety and Health Official (DSHO).

7. Appoints two regional representatives to the Risk Management Council: 1) a Regional Risk Manager, and 2) a person representing an Operations discipline from a park.

8. Determines whether site managers have an effective occupational safety and health process. Takes action to make sure that those who do not have this process in place will establish such a process that effectively reduces employee injuries and illnesses. Holds each accountable for failure to do so.

1. Serves as a professional advisor/consultant on occupational safety and health issues/matters for the regional director, regional DSHO, operating unit managers, and safety personnel.

2. Advises the regional director on the status of park occupational safety and health efforts. Evaluates park programs to determine progress/status at least once every three years, based on the Risk Management Program Elements as a minimum.

3. Provides regular and repeated counsel to individual field unit managers with sustained high accident rates to improve their safety record.

4. Represents the region as a member of the national Risk Management Council.

1. Responsible for compliance with Director's Orders #50A and #50B, and achieving all GPRA goals associated with occupational safety and health.

2. Provides employees and volunteers protection from adverse work and/or environmental conditions, or substances that may cause injury or illness.

3. Implements and enforces occupational safety standards and procedures to prevent injuries, illnesses, and property losses, and to reduce exposure to legal liability.

4. Identifies, evaluates, and controls occupational health hazards, and where they cannot be controlled, protects the health of at-risk employees. Procedures for managing specific occupational health hazards are found in Reference Manual 50B.

5. Encourages employee participation and involvement in the development, promotion, and implementation of the occupational safety and health program.

6. Develops, implements, and keeps current, written, site-specific, occupational safety and health work plans.

7. Annually conducts self-audits of occupational safety and health programs.

8. Develops and integrates into all operational work plans site-specific goals to achieve GPRA Goal IV-A6 (Employee Safety).

9. Secures appropriate occupational safety and health training for employees.

10. Thoroughly investigates to discover causes of job-related accidents that result in or have the potential to cause injury, illness, or property damage. Identifies and implements corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

11. Investigates employee accidents, following procedures prescribed in the "Investigative Responsibilities," section of Reference Manual 50B.

12. Dedicates necessary staff resources to full implementation of the Workers' Compensation Case Management Guidelines (Director's Order #50A).

13. Provides continuous feedback to managers on occupational safety and health performance, and recognizes and rewards occupational safety/health achievement.

14. Requires occupational safety and health to be integrated into all daily operations, activities, and training. Hold supervisors accountable for their overall occupational safety and health performance.

15. Appoints a collateral duty safety contact in the absence of a full time safety manager to serve as a point-of-contact for occupational safety and health issues. Ensures that services of an occupational safety and health professional are available when the site needs technical information and support.

16. Requires that all employee injuries and illnesses are recorded using the Department of Interior’s Safety Management Information System (SMIS). Identifies first and second level reviewers for SMIS.

17. Maintains, and displays appropriately, an OSHA Log, Form 200, or equivalent.

18. Provides an opportunity for organized labor to participate in occupational safety and health activities.

19. Establishes a system of accountability that includes rewards and consequences for safe or unsafe work practices.

20. Ensures that safe practices are incorporated into Emergency Operating Plans.

G. Operating Unit Safety Manager (Career)

1. Serves as a professional and technical advisor/consultant to the line management of the operating unit on occupational safety and health issues.

2. Conducts an investigation of all employee occupational safety/health accidents/incidents, and accurately enters them into SMIS.

3. Advises the site manager of all lost time employee accidents/incidents, and sits on the Technical Board of Investigation (TBI) for those accidents. (See Reference Manual 50B section on Investigative Responsibilities)

4. Maintains an OSHA 200 Log, or equivalent, for the unit.

5. Provides, or assists line management in providing appropriate training, including training on: managing employee safety and health; OSHA Standards relating to facilities/working environments, and inspections of those environments; preparation and use of job hazard analyses; and unsafe work practices in the workplace.

6. Assists supervisors and line management in conducting analyses of work-site safety; advises the site manager where improvements should be made, and where successes are being experienced.

7. Works collaboratively with Human Resources/Personnel Office to assist and promote effective management of OWCP cases.

8. Provides operating unit manager with data and reports on overall site occupational safety and health program progress.

1. Serves as the point-of-contact for occupational safety and health, and other matters relating to employee safety and health management for the operating unit.

2. Accurately enters into SMIS all employee accident data.

3. Maintains an OSHA 200 Log, or equivalent, for the operating unit.

4. Provides Operating Unit Manager with recommendations for the services of an occupational safety and health professional when the site needs technical information and support.

The supervisor is directly responsible for employee work practices, and:

1. Serves as the safety contact for his/her operation. Coordinates the development of occupational safety and health procedures that relate to activities within the scope of the supervisor's control.

2. Implements and enforces occupational safety and health standards within the supervisor’s scope of authority to prevent injuries and property losses, and to reduce exposure to legal liability. Inspects facilities under his/her control to ensure compliance with all applicable standards.

3. Trains every employee, every volunteer, and all persons doing work for the NPS within the supervisor's scope of responsibility, so they are qualified to perform that work safely and effectively, and know the OSHA standards that apply to their assigned activities. Conducts safety orientation for all new staff members within his/her operation, and conducts yearly/refresher safety training for seasonal employees and volunteers within his/her operation.

4. Integrates occupational safety and health into all activities and functions within the supervisor's scope of control and responsibility. Observes and evaluates work performances to ensure that safe work procedures are practiced.

5. Identifies job-related hazards and ensures that Job Hazard Analyses are prepared to mitigate the risks.

6. Eliminates or mitigates potential causes of accidents, injuries, and illnesses, with the goal of full compliance with all applicable standards.

7. Establishes a working culture that encourages employees to recognize and discuss unsafe behavior of co-workers, and to practice safe work procedures, even when working alone.

8. Personally investigates to discover all causes of employee accidents. Identifies and implements corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Enters employee accident information accurately into the Safety Management Information System (SMIS).

9. Promotes physical fitness and wellness among subordinates.

10. Utilizes a system of accountability that includes rewards and consequences for safe or unsafe work practices.

1. Adheres to established occupational safety and health procedures.

2. Properly uses and maintains required clothing and/or personal protective equipment.

3. Takes the initiative for his/her own safety and health and that of co-workers.

4. Takes the initiative to maintain a level of personal wellness and fitness as needed for assigned work tasks.

5. Identifies and, where appropriate, corrects unsafe conditions and work practices.

6. Reports unsafe/unhealthful conditions and/or operations.

7. Immediately reports a mishap, including minor accidents or a "near-miss," to supervisor, but no later than the end of the work shift.

8. Helps establish a safe and healthful working culture; practices safe work procedures, even when working alone.

---------- End of Director’s Order ----------