Depending on the COVID conditions in our community, more people will return to work at a Lab site in the coming weeks. While most things at the Lab remain the same, there are changes to physical security at the Lab as explained by Blair Edwards, Senior Security Operations Manager, Security and Emergency Services
Elements: What are the three biggest changes in physical security since March 2020?
Blair Edwards:
- The first is installing traffic and fire safety camera coverage to provide visual views into vulnerable areas of the Lab. We installed cameras that point north and south on the radio and weather towers. We also added cameras at traffic intersections to assist us with tracking unauthorized vehicles and to review traffic safety issues on the Lab’s roads.
- The second is traffic message boards to push out security and safety messages. We use the signs to remind people of fire danger and Lab events that impact parking and traffic. The mobile message boards are also equipped with radar detection to provide warning messages if you are driving above the speed limit. They are mobile which allows us to move them to strategic locations. As a reminder, the speed limit on all roads at the Lab is 15 m.p.h.
- Daytime physical controls at Lab buildings have changed, with all entrance doors now opened by a badge. Your badge is already set to let you enter most Lab buildings between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The exception to this is the buildings that require special safety training requirements.
Elements: How will the additional cameras add to the physical security at the Lab?
Blair: The Lab has many areas that we refer to as vulnerable. They are on the ridgelines outside the fence and include places where people who are not from the Lab hang out. The cameras we installed on the radio tower can see the ridgelines; it’s looking for fire or smoke coming from the other side of the ridge toward the Lab. We can see the area below Blackberry Gate, where we recently had a grass fire. These cameras are digital with improved resolution. They allow the Site Operations Center security officer to pan, tilt, and zoom the camera. The footage is live for 12 hours. After that, if there is no activity on the camera, the video is discarded.
Elements: What about the orange traffic message boards?
Blair: You will see the orange traffic message boards at several locations. The most likely is at the Blackberry Gate. The signs are on trailers so that we can move them to different areas, such as the J parking lot, a major intersection. We plan to use them for emergency and speed messages since it is easy to change the message. The messages need to be concise since there are only eight charters per line and three lines. In addition to the signboard, the trailers are radar-capable. It sends out a ping every two seconds and will display a message based on the speed. There are four levels of messaging. If you are under 18 m.p.h., you see a thank you for driving safely message. At 18 m.p.h., you see a warning, with a stronger warning at 20 m.p.h. that tells you to please slow down. The third warning is at 25 m.p.h. that says that it is way too fast. As a reminder, the speed limit on all Lab roads is 15 m.p.h. And everyone, stop signs are not a suggestion. Please stop at our stop signs. The speed limit, stop signs, and courteous driving applies to all vehicles, including bicycles.
Elements: What has changed about building security?
Blair: The security at the Lab is higher than what we have traditionally had in place. We have badge-in at the gates and now building badge-in at those buildings with access control systems. So if a person is inside a building, you should be reassured that the person has permission to be there. The increased building security also lets us know who badged into the building to account for them by contacting them in an emergency. Your badge is already set to allow you into most Lab buildings between 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The exception to this is the buildings that require special safety training requirements.
If someone is holding the door for you, that’s fine, but still swipe your badge so we know you’re in the building if there is an emergency.
Elements: What more do you want employees to know about physical security at the Lab?
Blair. Additional security changes are coming. Over the next year, there will be increased security measures to meet DOE requirements.
We are repairing our fences. Fences drift with the landscape over the years, leaving gaps between gates and posts. We have 57 gates in the exterior fence line that often go nowhere. Some gates allow Lab workers to enter an area adjacent to the fence. We are posting no trespassing signs on each gate. Our fence will never make the Lab a fortress, but it needs to be secure enough that it doesn’t encourage people to walk through it. Throughout the history of the Lab, the gates might have been used to access the Lab, but no longer. There are only three points to enter the Lab, and that is at Blackberry, Strawberry, and Grizzly gates.
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Site Operations Center – 24/7 @ 510-486-6999