DOE Federal Quality Council

Formation of the Department of Energy's Federal Quality Council

Former Secretary Bodman's April 7, 2006, memorandum, "Improving Quality Assurance" noted that quality assurance was not being consistently implemented across the DOE complex. As a result of the memorandum, HSS implemented the DOE Survey on Quality Assurance Implementation and initiated the establishment of a DOE Federal Quality Council (Council). On November 5, 2008, the Chief Health, Safety and Security (HSS) Officer formally announced the formation of the Department's Quality Council.

The Council Chair, Colette Broussard, is the DOE HSS Director of the Office of Quality Assurance Policy and Assistance (HS-23). Representation on the Council currently includes nominated members from eighteen DOE HQ and Field offices. One of the first accomplishments of the Council was that all members participated in establishing the Charter approved by the Chief HSS Officer in November 2008. One of the Charter's primary objectives is to address DOE/NNSA quality assurance (QA) concerns as directed by the Secretary of Energy. The Council provides a forum to identify QA policy needs and recommend resolutions as well as to identify and recommend actions for continuous improvement of the quality of DOE work. The Council welcomes recommendations from any individual on QA-related concerns.

The Council has been meeting regularly since August 2008 and has started developing four task planning documents to take action on areas such as (1) developing general quality assurance training for DOE HQ employees, (2) establishing guidance for the application of NQA-1 Part II, (3) integrating quality assurance and safety management, and (4) developing the 2009 Survey on Quality Assurance implementation. The primary point-of-contacts (POCs) for the Council are Colette Broussard (colette.broussard@hq.doe.gov) and your respective program office or field office member. Current Council Members are listed in the table below. If you have any questions concerning this article, please contact Sonya Barnette on 301-903-2068.

Membership Table (April 16, 2009)

• Quality Council Charter, 11/5/2008

• EFCOG-DOE Leadership Meeting (March 2-6, 2009)

• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, July 02, 2008
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, August 6-7, 2008
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, September 18, 2008
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, October 16, 2008
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, November 20, 2008
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, December 18, 2008
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, January 22, 2009
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, February 19, 2009
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, March 19, 2009
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, April 16, 2009
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, May 21, 2009
• DOE Quality Council Conference Call, June 18, 2009