In the eight months that Taimoor Hassan has been with the ALS and ALS-U, he has been able to apply his background in electrical safety, engineering, and RF systems. Learn more about the giant microwave he worked on in a previous job, and how all of his experience serves the interconnected work of the ALS and ALS-U.
Your role is an important part of both the ALS and ALS-U. What does your day-to-day work involve?
For ALS, everything is in place. I’m working with electrical maintenance (EM) technicians and electrical coordinators. I’m going through the job safety plans, looking at their work scope, and also doing the field assessment for the qualified electrical worker (QEW) certifications. For ALS-U, because of the new projects and upgrades, there’s a lot of subcontractors coming in. My job is to coordinate with the electrical subcontractors. I’m onboarding them, getting their documents in place, reviewing their job safety plan, work scope, air gap plan, lock out tag out (LOTO) plan, and all the things that go with their job.
How do the ALS and ALS-U teams work together?
Everything is interconnected between ALS and ALS-U. When ALS-U staff and subcontractors need info about equipment, or where the routing for the cable goes, and all those kinds of things, they will definitely get support from ALS people. When ALS-U is planning new jobs, the support they need on the ground comes from ALS.
What career path led you to the ALS and ALS-U?
I’ve been at the ALS for eight months and Berkeley Lab for four years. Before the ALS, I worked at the 88-Inch Cyclotron for the Nuclear Science Division. As a senior EM, I was dealing with radio frequency (RF) systems, control systems, power distribution, and everything in between.
I’m an engineer by profession and I’ve been in this field for over 10 years. My last job before joining the Lab was working for a private company that was making RF power amplifiers for different government and private agencies. We ended up getting a contract for making an industrial-sized microwave. It was a huge, new project, just like what we have here for ALS-U. So we were planning how and where to do the testing, the modules and then putting it together, all that planning goes into it.
With planning, you have to keep safety in mind. It was technically a microwave, just a huge microwave, and we were cooking things like battery mixtures. That needs a lot of planning, same as when I was at the 88. I was working on the RF system, and I’ve done the upgrade and installation of a new klystron. We went from procurement to execution, handing over the equipment and testing.
I was doing a lot of this: planning, testing, writing the scope of work, and explaining to people what the job was, what the hazards were, and all that. That all gave me a background very close to what they were asking for here at ALS and ALS-U for an electrical safety officer (ESO).
Who do you work with around Berkeley Lab?
I work alongside EMs, electronics installation (EI) techs, and electronics coordinators. Our joint efforts usually focus on defining the scope of work, establishing hazard controls, and formulating emergency plans. I also work with the ALS safety team and electrical subcontractors for ALS-U.
When I require assistance navigating safety scenarios, I typically consult with Ari Harding’s team in Environmental Health & Safety (EHS). Additionally, I collaborate closely with the ALS and ALS-U safety team, specifically Katherine Johnson and Julie Drotz.
I’m also the chair for the Lab’s Electrical Safety Committee, and I run a monthly meeting that managers, ESOs, and electrical safety advocates from all the divisions attend. I present Department of Energy Occurrence Reporting and Processing System (ORPS) information, and we discuss all the incidents related to electrical safety. We talk about what went wrong, what could have been prevented, and how we can implement precautions here at the Lab.
Do you have a safety message to share with the ALS and ALS-U community?
We’re working with custom equipment that involves high voltage and radiation. It’s important to be mindful, anticipate potential hazards, and have safety measures in place. We have users from all over the world with a timeframe for their experiments, and there’s pressure to get it done quickly. However, if you skip the part where you talk about the hazards and controls and something goes wrong, you’re going to be shut down for months. If somebody gets hurt, you have to document what happened and how you can prevent it. After that, it’s out of your hands. Someone else will come evaluate, and they won’t care if the beam is down. Prioritizing safety from the start is always the better approach.
I’m here on site every day, and I’m available even outside of office hours. Send me an email, text me, or Google Chat me, and I will be accessible. I have an engineering background, I’ve done RF testing and designing, I’ve done controls, so I will understand what you are talking about, and I would really like to help you whenever you need me.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to go mushroom collecting, like mushroom hunting. I have toddlers at home. They take most of my time. So I will take them to the park, to the beach, and on hikes.