[ RadSafe ] Rad user/hazmat employee training requirements

[Walter Cofer]

Joel -

Yes, I'm afraid that you are out of the loop, but don't feel bad - you
aren't alone.  The USDOT's hazmat employee training (HET) requirement has
been around a long time, but was not strongly enforced by either state or
federal regulators for many years.  That's no longer the case.

The regulatory landscape started to change after the ValueJet crash in So.
Fla. in 1998.  Among other bad things, the investigators determined that
untrained workers improperly loaded chemical oxygen generators on the
passenger plane, which ignited and cause the plant to blowtorch into the
ground, killing everyone on board.  Violations and fines were issued related
to the worker's lack of hazmat training, which might have prevented the
tragedy.  The USDOT has since stepped up its enforcement of HET
requirements, including the agency's RAM Enforcement Program, which inspects
RAM licensees nationwide.  While USDOT inspections are rare, they can result
in huge fines for licensees that haven't complied with the training
requirements, which are specified in 49 CFR Part 172, Subpart H.

HET is required for workers with job functions that directly impact hazmat
transport safety, and since a lot of RAM meets the USDOT definition of
hazmat, lots of radiation workers meet the definition of a hazmat employee
and are therefore subject to the rules.  Initial training must be provided
within 90 days and refresher training must be done every 3 years.  Four
topics must be covered: general awareness/familiarization,
function-specific, safety, and security awareness (the last one is a
post-9/11 addition).  The records requirement for hazmat employee training
is very specific, and even if the training is done, if not properly
documented, you can still be fined.

Even if workers aren't actively transporting hazmat themselves, if they
offer it for shipment and/or receive hazmat shipments, they are hazmat
employees, and so is their RSO.  For example, radiopharmacy drivers are
hazmat employees, but so are the nuclear medicine techs who receive and
return radiopharmaceuticals, and so it the facility's RSO.  Even a fixed
nuclear gauge AU may be a hazmat employee, if he/she is involved in receipt
of a gauge and/or offers it for shipment at some point.

Since the NRC and state rad control programs also enforce 49 CFR (though to
varying degrees), licensees can be cited by these regulators for HET
violations (but the fines are much lower).

When I was with the FL Bureau of Radiation Control, I became the de facto
RAM transportation authority and worked to improve compliance with
transportation regs, and pushed to educate our licensees and staff on HET
requirements.  We began inspecting for HET compliance and found that most of
the licensees were unaware of the requirements.  Word has spread as
enforcement has increased, and now many radiation safety training providers
include HET as part of their training courses, and provide a HET certificate
along with the rad. safety certificate to their training course attendees.

HET can be done in-house or by a third party trainer, and needs to be
tailored to the RAM (and any other hazmat) in the workplace.  There are many
companies that offer HET, and you can find CBT HET, but if you use a third
party for the training, you will likely need to supplement it with
site-specific training.  EPA/OSHA hazmat/HAZWOPER training can be applied to
the HET requirement, but it would also likely need to be supplemented by
site-specific training.

I hope this clears things up for you.  If you have any questions, feel free
to contact me directly.

Walt Cofer
Radiation Safety Consultant
Tallahassee, FL
Tel: (850) 668-8559
Cell: (850) 519-5351
radcontrol at earthlink.net













-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf
Of Baumbaugh, Joel SPAWAR
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 1:24 PM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Rad user/hazmat employee

RADSAFERS,

 

I understand that "someone" EPA/OSHA (?) now classifies a person who
utilizes/uses radioactive material as a haz-mat employee.  That means
that I need to make sure all of my Rad-wokers have haz-mat training.

 

Does anyone know about this (does everyone know about this except ME)?

 

I need Reg. sentence/paragraph citations please...

 

Thanks,

 

Joel Baumbaugh (joel.baumbaugh at navy.mil) 

SSC-SD

 

 

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