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Michoud Safety

The Michoud Assembly Facility follows rigorous safety guidelines and procedures set and maintained by NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and by the Safety & Mission Assurance Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, which manages Michoud for the agency.

These stringent guidelines ensure the safety — and enhance the success — of all Michoud facility activities, from its industrial safety program to its work on NASA’s Space Launch System and other next-generation technologies and space exploration programs. Safety programs at Michoud integrate protective measures for all NASA organizations, contractors and third-party tenants, certifying that people, processes, facilities and hardware are safe and that all work is done to assure the success of every mission set before the facility.

To accomplish this, Marshall Safety & Mission Assurance Directorate personnel team with Michoud safety officers to:

  • Plan, establish, implement and direct all safety and mission assurance programs for Michoud in-house and contracted efforts to ensure that program/project and institutional safety requirements are met and appropriate controls are in place
  • Engage early in space system and institutional program/project life-cycles to provide continuous planning, review, engineering studies and analysis performed by employees skilled in safety, reliability, maintainability, quality and risk management
  • Constantly, consistently demonstrate a strong culture of safety, contributing to innovative, integrated solutions from program/project start to finish

Michoud and Marshall focus on safety in three areas:

  • Mission & Flight Safety — A primary safety mission at Michoud is ensuring the safe and proper execution of all development, manufacturing and integration efforts and related activities. NASA safety and mission assurance personnel conduct and support safety, reliability and risk-management analyses and oversee all in-house and prime contractor fabrication, inspection, test and evaluation activities tied to spaceflight missions. Michoud adheres to and implements all policies, tools and techniques, in accordance with NASA and federal requirements, to ensure safety procedures are followed throughout the facility, ensuring the safest possible flight programs and other space missions.
  • Personal & Workforce Safety — Michoud complies with all health and safety requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other federal guidelines. Qualified NASA safety and mission assurance representatives conduct inspections, train employees and contractors and promote NASA’s safety culture to protect the lives of every Michoud worker.
  • Facilities & Environmental Safety — Michoud safety personnel monitor facilities and laboratories across the facility to protect NASA’s financial investment in Michoud’s physical resources. They conduct routine quality-assurance checks on all hardware, tools and other resources to ensure the strictest possible adherence to workplace and environmental safety guidelines.