Procedures Center Manager Karen Nunez has been working somewhat “behind the scenes” at the ALS for the past seven years, ensuring that documentation for the many procedures involved in ALS operations is clear, correct, and up to date. She works with a plethora of ALS engineers, operators, technicians, and scientists, who all lend their technical expertise to her work.
“I maintain the documents that help people maintain the accelerator,” says Nunez. “In my position I get to interact with various individuals at the ALS, and everyone has a specialized understanding of the accelerator based on their knowledge and work they do. I get the benefit of learning a bit about these different perspectives while recording the necessary information for everyone else.” She feels that documentation is the best means for retaining and sharing the knowledge that is needed.
The procedures at ALS include everything from how users safely enter and operate the hutches at the beamlines and how operators start up and shut down the accelerator, to how the electrical maintenance techs test each beamline radiation safety system. The documents she’s charged with fulfill safety, compliance, and basic ALS operational needs, plus a good many others that serve to remind staff of what is needed for jobs that are rarely done, such as removing and installing an insertion device. In her position, document control, technical writing, and project management all come into play.
Nunez regularly coordinates reviews and updates dozens of procedures each year, and there are always additional projects that arise as upgrades occur and safety requirements change. A recent example is the new lock-out-tag-out (LOTO) procedure that’s being implemented Lab-wide; Nunez will have to revise and implement new documentation to go along with it. She stays on top of everything with her favorite software, Smartsheet, which she says is “like Excel-plus.”
When asked about one thing she enjoys about her job, she says: “For everyone who works on procedures, it is like another task on top of their main responsibilities; however, I really appreciate that when it comes time to do so, everyone is ready to lend their support and help out when needed.”
Procedural documentation is necessary for ALS functionality, and although much of it is invisible to users, it is obviously something that contributes greatly towards allowing work to run more smoothly at the ALS.