NGEE-Tropics Safety

Who is Responsible for Safety?

NGEE-Tropics is committed to the safety and health of its project personnel, subcontractors, and collaborators.  It is NGEE-Tropics’ expectation that all work be conducted in a safe and conscientious manner, and with regard for the safety of oneself, others, and for the surrounding environment. Safety planning and management must be implemented by each participant organization to ensure the safety and health of all project participants. NGEE-Tropics does not manage or operate its own field sites but collaborates with local institutions to work in field sites established and managed by those institutions. While NGEE–Tropics Leadership Team will promote discussions of hazards and best practices for fieldwork, consulting with relevant personnel on safety and health matters as needed, Partner Institutions must establish the health and safety requirements for its staff.

• Individual participants are responsible for conducting work in a safe manner, and developing safety plans in compliance with their home institutions’ requirements, project requirements (NGEE-Tropics safety manual coming soon), and as necessary, the requirements of the field site where NGEE-Tropics work or collaboration is conducted. Participants are also responsible for abiding by local, state, federal and international laws pertaining to the field site. Hazards and mitigation controls may vary by field site – as participants prepare for their health and safety plans, they should communicate with their Institutional Leads, other appropriate safety professionals at their home institutions, and relevant Field Site Leads and/or local Field Site PIs/Managers to gather as much information about the field site, identify known hazards and appropriate control steps, and take all necessary training.

• Institutional Leads at NGEE-Tropics Partner Institutions are responsible for establishing expectations for safety planning and implementation, and for ensuring that participants from their institutions have active safety plans before NGEE-Tropics field work begins.

• As the lead institution for this project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is responsible to provide project-level, and where possible, site-specific information for use in institutional safety plans for fieldwork that all project participants must review and acknowledge (NGEE-Tropics safety manual coming soon). While we will strive to provide site-specific information, institutional safety professionals and Field Site Leads and/or local Field Site PIs/Managers also can be consulted.

• In consultation with relevant safety professionals at LBNL and field sites, the NGEE-Tropics Leadership Team will review safety and health information pertaining to NGEE-Tropics Field Sites annually and as it becomes known for communication to NGEE-Tropics participants. Urgent safety and health information will be assessed and shared with NGEE-Tropics participants as quickly as possible.

NGEE-Tropics safety manual coming soon…