Role of the Identification Team cont'd

DOE-HDBK-1148-2002

Identify the standards that constitute a necessary and sufficient set and are feasible to

implement. The WSS set must include all applicable federal, state, and local laws and

regulations plus any other standards that are judged necessary to provide adequate

protection for workers, the public, and the environment. The determinations of adequacy

and feasibility are based on team members' judgment and experience, buttressed by

team interaction and discussion, and the involvement of additional experts if needed.

Feasibility relates to the local context and the Responsible Organization's readiness to

implement the WSS set. Contentious issues of feasibility should be referred to the

Convened Group as they are responsible for line management buy-in with the WSS set.

Reach consensus on and justify the WSS set. It is essential that team members begin

by "agreeing to agree" and engage in constructive dialogue to reach consensus.

Protocols for group decision-making and consensus should be applied. Since

experience has shown the value of synergistic interactions among team members with

different technical backgrounds, most of the team's work should be conducted in face-to-

face meetings. Justification means that a rationale is developed for the adequacy and

feasibility of the standards proposed for inclusion in the WSS set. Consideration of

feasibility should be in consonance with the conclusion that the standards set provides

reasonable assurance of adequate protection. Feasibility focus is not on the ability of

the standards to guide performance (i.e. "adequacy"), but rather on a potential future

failure to achieve standards-based and safe work. Such failures could occur if

management systems and processes are not capable of delivering work based on the

WSS set or if resources are not sufficient to design and perform the work consistent with

the WSS set. The N&S Closure Process requires the Identification and Confirmation

Teams to assess both the adequacy and feasibility of the standards set. The agreed

upon definition of the work and the institutional implementing assumptions about how

that work will be carried out are first developed as a description of initial conditions by

the Convened Group during Process Element 1: Defining the Work and Hazards. The

requirements for describing both work objectives and a relationship for those work

objectives to some organized system for the delivery of that work are equally important

to the ultimate utility of the WSS set. By starting with the Convened Group's core of

guidance, the identification team is reasonably expected to further refine the definition of