US Department of Energy

The challenge

Managing contractor assurance across a multi-contractor nuclear site is genuinely complex work. The DOE's Hanford Site operates across two field offices and multiple contractors, each running as a unique entity with its own data, workflows and access requirements. Meeting the rigorous expectations set out in DOE Oversight Policy DOE P 226.1B requires contractors to protect site workers, the public and the environment while continuously improving operations. Meeting those expectations demanded a level of oversight and coordination that existing tools simply couldn't support. 

Teams were managing contractor assurance through spreadsheets. They were insufficient. The site needed a solution that could operate at scale, enforce data security across multiple organizations and give the DOE direct visibility into contractor performance, without creating administrative bottlenecks. 

Business impact 

Without a unified system, the DOE faced real risks: delays in identifying and resolving non-compliance issues, limited visibility into contractor performance and a reliance on manual record requests to access critical information. On a site where safety, public protection and regulatory compliance are absolute requirements, those gaps carried real consequences. 

DOE Order 226.1B is explicit in its requirements: oversight processes must establish metrics and targets for performance, hold managers accountable and continuously improve. The existing approach made meeting those obligations significantly harder. 

Previous attempts 

Spreadsheets had been the default approach for managing contractor assurance data. While workable at a smaller scale, they couldn't accommodate the complexity of a multi-contractor sitewide environment, particularly the need to control data access at the record level, support sensitive record types like official use only (OUO) and unclassified nuclear information (UCNI) and give the DOE real-time oversight capability. 

The catalyst 

The scale and complexity of Hanford's contractor landscape, combined with DOE's formal requirements under DOE P 226.1B and DOE O 226.1B, made the case for a dedicated software solution hard to ignore. Managing multi-million-dollar activities across multiple contractors on the largest nuclear clean-up site in the US required more than manual tools could deliver. 

The solution

Hanford Site uses Ideagen’s quality, safety and compliance software to manage contractor assurance across the entire site on a unified platform. Each contractor controls its own data and can configure its own workflows, while the DOE and contractor users can only access the data they are authorized to see, at the individual record level. 

The platform provides a single source of truth through a unified database, with full support for OUO and UCNI record types. Ideagen solutions in use at Hanford include: 

• Audits and assessments 
• Compliance tracking 
• DOE compliance flow down 
• Corrective and preventive actions 
• Correspondence tracking 
• Enterprise risk management 
• Issues management 
• Lessons learned 
• Metrics and KPIs 
• Mobile observations 
• Operating experiences 
• Trending 

Why Ideagen 

Ideagen is a recognized leader in providing software for contractor assurance and work management within the DOE Complex, with deep regulatory expertise built through years of working in high-compliance environments. That track record of sector knowledge and proven technology gave the Hanford team confidence it was the right choice. 

The results

Result 1: The DOE gained direct system access to manage oversight activities across the entire Hanford complex, replacing the previous process of submitting record requests and waiting for responses. Visibility into contractor performance is now real-time. 

Result 2: Robust tracking, workflow and reporting capabilities support continuous improvement across multiple contractors operating under DOE compliance requirements. 

Result 3: Mobile app rollout in 2021 extended the system's reach to field workers, enabling authorized users to quickly log non-compliance issues and observations from their devices, whether online or offline. 

Result 4: Automated, configurable condition-report review and resolution processes, calibrated to risk and severity level, ensure teams follow up on issues promptly and nothing falls through the cracks. 

Qualitative benefits 

The shift to a unified platform has also changed how the DOE and its contractors work together day to day. Each contractor retains full control of its own data and workflows, while the DOE can oversee the whole complex from a single system. Having autonomy and accountability in one place gives everyone involved greater confidence in how the site is managed. 

The automated condition-report workflows have also reduced the administrative burden on teams, freeing them up to focus on what they are there to do: keeping people safe and site compliant.