Major Energy Department Nuclear Security Contractor Has Poor H&S Record

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Three Wackenhut Contracts Among Top Ten Major DOE Contracts With Highest
Percentage of 'Lost Workdays'

WASHINGTON, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The security firm hired by the U.S. Department of Energy to guard the nation's stockpiles of nuclear weapons has a poor health and safety record. More than 2,500 days of work by employees of Wackenhut, the U.S. Department of Energy's largest provider of private guards, were lost or limited due to occupational illness or injury in 2004, according to an analysis of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Computerized Accident/Incident Reporting System. The analysis was conducted by SEIU, the nation's largest security officers' union.
Security contractor Wackenhut guards many of the DOE's sensitive nuclear facilities. Wackenhut holds four of the DOE's top 100 largest contracts, based on total hours worked. Three of those contracts are among the top ten in percentage of hours that were lost or restricted due to occupational illness or injury. Those three contracts are at the Nevada Test Site and two adjacent facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee: the Y-12 nuclear weapons facility and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
A fourth DOE contract held by Wackenhut, at the Savannah River Site, ranks 16th worst in terms of work-hours lost. Wackenhut is the DOE's second-largest contractor overall, behind Bechtel, according to the latest available DOE information. Wackenhut's contract at the Nevada Test Site is currently out to bid; its two contracts in Oak Ridge are set to go out to bid this summer.
"These statistics only add to the growing concerns over Wackenhut's performance at U.S. nuclear facilities," said Stephen Lerner, Director of the Building Services Division of SEIU. "These kind of problems could affect security. When guard posts are not fully staffed, other guards are forced to work extra hours. It increases the risk that safety guidelines will be ignored and security procedures will be compromised."