RICHLAND, Wash. - Karen McGinnis will retire this month after serving for 20 years as director of the Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) Federal Training Center.
McGinnis provided direction at the center from its inception through 20 years of operations and has spearheaded HAMMER’s mission to promote worker safety and health at Hanford and at various federal agencies throughout the U.S.
Under McGinnis’s direction, HAMMER grew from a concept to a world-class training center that provides emergency response support, enabling safe and efficient cleanup at Hanford.
HAMMER has retained DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) status for the past 16 years. In 2006, McGinnis was honored with the “Special Achievement Award" for outstanding performance leadership in furthering the DOE VPP Program.
Believing that meaningful worker involvement was key to HAMMER’s success, McGinnis included workers in HAMMER program development to foster respect, trust, partnership, and collaboration.
Paul Vandervert, HAMMER operations manager and McGinnis’s first employee at the center, will replace McGinnis as director.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
