Dear Subcontractor,
On Aug. 30, 2021, Battelle Energy Alliance LLC (BEA) received direction from the Department of Energy (DOE) regarding updates to the DOE COVID-19 Workplace Safety Framework which includes requirements that are applicable to subcontractors. The directive requires subcontractor employees who are working at INL to attest to their vaccination status. Anyone who attests to not being fully vaccinated or declines to attest to their vaccination status, must comply with regular COVID-19 screening tests. Effective Sept. 7, 2021, updated safety protocols for embedded subcontractors at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will now address this DOE requirement.
Your firm has been identified as an “embedded” subcontractor, meaning your on-site employees at INL are working in an environment so closely aligned, coordinated, and within proximity to Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA) employees that COVID-19 vaccination attestation is mandatory. If the attestation does not result in confirmation of an on-site employee being fully vaccinated for COVID-19, weekly testing will be a safety requirement based on the “embedded” nature (> one day/week) of their on-site presence.
Please note, BEA will provide access to our automated tool to record individual subcontractor employee vaccination information, as well as weekly testing for subject subcontractor employees who are not vaccinated, at no cost through its on-site facilities or a third-party service provider. Additional details will be shared as this process becomes better defined.
BEA considers this action to be within existing health, safety, and site access contractual terms. Be advised that circumstances arising out of this requirement do not relieve subcontractors of their contractual obligation for work performance.
The BEA vaccination software reporting tool is now available to begin data entry. Please work with your contractually designated BEA technical oversight representative for assistance with the tool. All embedded subcontractor employees shall have completed entering vaccination information into the tool by Sept. 14, 2021.
If you have any questions, please contact the BEA Contract Specialist identified in the contract(s) between your company and BEA. We appreciate your continued cooperation by complying with these safety measures as we all work through these challenging times.
Sincerely,
Robert T. Crowton
Manager, Acquisition Management
Idaho National Laboratory
robert.crowton@inl.gov