Safety employs ingenuity to help protect Pantex personnel

The Pantex Plastics Shop designed and produced modular plastic shields to deploy across the site.

In their continued effort to find solutions to ensure employee safety during the pandemic, Pantex Safety and Industrial Hygiene sought out cooperation across the site to employ new plastic shielding at various locations on site.

“We recognized that breakrooms and lunchrooms presented a challenge when employees are eating and drinking as the masks have to be removed,” said Shane Feagan of Pantex S&IH. “While organizations have worked throughout the pandemic to stagger breaks and lunches with socially distanced tables and chairs, the plastic barriers are an added physical layer of protection.”

After identifying the need, S&IH reached out to the onsite Plastics Shop to help with the design of modular Lexan shield that could be configured in multiples or standalone units to fit each area’s need. Procurement also stepped up to quickly procure the needed Lexan. The Plastics Shop used the water jet system to increase production to 40 shields per day. To date, over 160 sheets of Lexan were ordered to meet demand. The shop is currently sending them to organizations all across the site.

“I am extremely proud of how the Plastics Shop helped us recognize this challenge and continue to work tirelessly to fulfill the orders to ensure their coworkers are safe,” Feagan said. “By making these on site, we not only saved significant costs versus ordering the shields, but we are able to quickly manufacture them and put them in use.”

The shielding has been deployed to many organizations already, including Weapons Training, Medical, Counterintelligence, Security, and Quality. More orders will be shipped out to all of the south end breakrooms and both cafeterias. There are currently over 400 requests for shielding being worked.

“It is our hope that the shielding keeps employees safe so that we can fulfill our important mission and send them home safe to their families each day,” Feagan said. “These are challenging times, but I am grateful that employees continue to do everything we can to ensure we are able to continue to work safely. It reinforces that Pantex employees are truly the best and I am extremely thankful that I get to be a part of the Pantex family.”

Lexan plastic shields have been added to breakrooms for added protection when eating without a face covering.