DOE'S Former Beryllium Worker Medical Surveillance Program

This program was designed to assess the health impacts of DOE operations on employees exposed to airborne beryllium. Beryllium compounds are now recognized as a serious occupational hazard, and the Office of Health Services has worked to:

1. identify and offer medical screening to former employees thought to be at risk for chronic beryllium disease (CBD);
2. provide information learned from (1), above, to occupational medicine directors responsible for screening current workers at DOE sites, former workers, communities, and other interested parties; and
3. facilitate the initiation of an integrated interagency CBD research agenda leading to improved diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of this disease.
   

In these endeavors, the Office of Health Services worked closely with DOE offices and federal agencies responsible for protection and control measures for current workers, compensation for individuals who have developed CBD, and CBD research.

History:

DOE's Former Beryllium Worker Medical Surveillance Program (Be Program) was established following the onset of several CBD cases at the DOE Rocky Flats Plant in the late 1980s. Pilot screening was initiated at Rocky Flats in 1991 and at Oak Ridge [Y-12] in 1993. In 1998, the program was expanded to offer medical examinations to former employees thought to be at risk for developing CBD from numerous DOE sites not originally covered by DOE's Former Worker Medical Surveillance Program (FWP).

Accomplishments:

The Be Program offered screening to over 77,000 individuals and screened 23,000 of 26,000 interested individuals from 16 sites. Approximately one percent of these individuals were diagnosed with CBD and three percent were identified to have sensitization to beryllium. These individuals have been referred for medical follow-up and/or to the Department of Labor's (DOL) Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP) or state workers compensation agencies. Under EEOICP, DOL offers lifetime medical monitoring to check for chronic beryllium disease in individuals with beryllium sensitization and medical coverage and $150,000 to individuals with CBD.

DOE Sites that were covered by the Be Program:

Pre-1998:
Rocky Flats
Oak Ridge Y-12

Post-1998:
Oak Ridge X-10 (ORNL)
Mound Facility
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Fermilab
Kansas City Plant
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
Pantex
Iowa Army Ammunition Plant
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Ames Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory East
Argonne National Laboratory West
Sandia National Laboratory

Status:

In the interest of equity for all former DOE federal and contactor workers, DOE now offers screening to individuals from all DOE sites. Additionally, interested former workers are now offered a comprehensive, targeted screening exam based on all exposures (including beryllium) they may have had while employed at DOE site(s).
Program Manager: Elizabeth White

• Beryllium Program Surveillance Report



• Communicating Health Risks Working Safely with Beryllium



• Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation Test Basic Ordering Agreements



• Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA)



• Former Worker Medical Surveillance Program



• Beryllium Screening - Informed Choice Document