NIH Recognizes 2022 'Mission First, Safety Always' Award Winner and Runner-up

The National Institutes of Health, Office of Research Services (ORS), and the Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) congratulate the 2022 NIH 'Mission First, Safety Always' Award winner Ashley Shoemaker and runner-up nominee Barbara Liles, who are recognized by their peers for their outstanding contributions to making a difference in safety today.

The NIH Mission First Safety Always Award was created to recognize NIH personnel who have demonstrated leadership, innovation and involvement in their organization's safety culture. Information about the winner and runner-up was provided by the nominators.

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2022 NIH 'Mission First, Safety Always' Award winner Ms. Ashley Shoemaker of NCI Frederick, who was nominated by her colleague Gregory Ragan, leads the safety staff in the identification and correction of safety issues such as asbestos remediation, machine guarding and fall protection. She works to correct unsafe and unhealthful workplace conditions by creating campaigns and facility-wide risk assessments—such as reviewing potentially hazardous building conditions that may have a facility-wide impact—to improve safety and health.

Ashley promotes safety as an important part of the program by creating a risk assessment process for shop personnel to use in the work order system that helps the personnel ID and improve job planning and safety plan development. For example, Ms. Shoemaker created, planned, and executed a weeklong safety shutdown of the Operations and Maintenance (O & M) staff to update training and improve the safety culture of the shops. She spearheaded and successfully completed a safety initiative that led to the acquisition and installation of a guardrail system on the rooftops of several buildings, making it safer to work on rooftop equipment and adding to the overall safety of maintenance teams working onsite. Ashley also played an integral part in obtaining funding for the systems installation.

Ms. Shoemaker uses her ethical foundation in safety to hold accountable individuals who are non-compliant with safety guidelines and regulations. By developing a tough, but caring relationship with the O & M staff, Ashley has established a level of trust that helps her effectively communicate safety cultural changes that need to be made. That foundation of trust has enabled Ms. Shoemaker to improve the health and safety of the organization— and change safety culture overall—with efficient tools and solutions that make sense.

Ms. Ashley Shoemaker's dedication to working each day to improve training and compliance in the safety and health of her community has earned her the title of 2022 NIH 'Mission First, Safety Always' Award winner.

(Information adapted from nomination sheet submitted by Gregory Ragan, 2023)

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NIH, ORS, and DOHS also salute the Runner-up for the 2022 NIH 'Mission First, Safety Always' Award, Ms. Barbara Liles, ORS, who was nominated by Mr. Timothy Tosten, ORS. 

After becoming the leader of the ORS Safety Committee (SC) in 2022, Ms. Liles rebuilt the workplace safety inspection process by initiating ORS-SC Workspace Safety Surveys. Under her leadership, Barbara gathered and assembled Team Leads to provide them with guidance and training in conducting workplace safety surveys. She established a timeline, identified milestones and showed seriousness and determination for learning and understanding what it means to have a safe workplace. By being prepared and using advanced planning, Barbara changed what could have been a grinding process into a smooth inspection process.

Using her overarching vision, Barbara promoted safety by ensuring the Team Leads of the ORS-SC were trained to perform their inspections.  Part of this training included creating a template for Team Leads to report findings of unsafe or unhealthful workplace conditions.  This template became the official mechanism used to communicate which situations needed to be corrected.  She communicated information in an encouraging way so there was understanding and support by all involved. 

When recommendations were made, Ms. Liles gave practical and realistic responses.  If she did not know the answer, Barbara consulted with subject matter team members. If there were findings that could not be addressed by the team or staff, Barbara took it upon herself to work with the appropriate offices and staff to resolve the unsafe conditions. In addition, Ms. Liles also created resource lists and contact information which helped the team efficiently correct any findings.

Ms. Liles engaged her peers and leadership to communicate the need for their support for a successful workplace safety survey.  Barbara understood that it was important to enlist the support of both groups.  After she achieved this, Barbara organized her members into teams to conduct surveys. Through her dedication, Ms. Liles inspired others in the ORS-SC to also lead inspection teams.

Ms. Liles possesses several leadership attributes that distinguish her from her peers. Although Barbara did not have much experience in leading workplace safety inspections, she rebuilt the process. Ms. Liles researched safety in the workplace, demonstrated a willingness to work with staff to address safety concerns, and showed an eagerness to find solutions to problems or answers to questions.

Ms. Barbara Liles' commitment to understanding and promoting safety and health policies, practices and procedures—using her vision and strong organizational skills to tackle issues and bring everything together—has distinguished her as the 2022 NIH 'Mission First, Safety Always' runner-up nominee.

(Information adapted from nomination sheet submitted by Timothy Tosten, 2023)

A big thank you to all who participated in the 2022 NIH 'Mission First, Safety Always' Award contest!​​