[ RadSafe ] Gral question on RSO liabilities

Sun Oct 16 19:28:11 CDT 2011

The BEST option is to report to the regulator exactly what happened.  Fraudulent reports are most often treated more harshly than the original sin.

Brent Rogers
Sydney Australia
TDY Melbourne Australia

Sent from my iPad

On 17/10/2011, at 2:37, Felipe Gaitan <gaitan at impulsedevices.com> wrote:

> Dear Radsafers - On behalf of my colleague, thanks a lot of the input and advice.  
> 
> He has a follow up question:  from the point of view of the NRC (or the state regulatory agency), is it better for the company to say that it was the RSO's oversight or that a senior manager acted without the RSO's consent? 
> 
> There hasn't been any serious consequences, other than the rules being violated, so this is not a big case.  But he suspects the company want to just say "We messed up. It won't happen again. Here are the steps we're taking to make sure of that".  Which is fine with my colleague except that that response, in a way, implies that it was the RSO's oversight. 
> 
> Any advice would be appreciated.  Felipe Gaitan
> 
> 
> On Oct 14, 2011, at 1:27 PM, Johanning, Jeffrey R. wrote:
> 
>> On behalf of a colleague of mine, we have had similar cases where it was
>> unknown that there was radioactive material in the shipment.  So... as
>> in most cases with a question like this, the answer is: It depends.
>> 
>> By restricted you probably mean it requires a specific license to
>> possess it.  In which case there is a requirement for the shipper to
>> verify that the recipient is licensed to possess the source before they
>> ship it.  There is also the DOT requirements for dangerous goods
>> (packaging, contamination tests, etc.) and training of those filling out
>> the required DOT documents.  For most licensees, the RSO or the RSO
>> staff are really the only ones that are up on these requirements so to
>> not include them is at the least, very poor judgment and at the most a
>> violation of DOT regulations and/or the radiation safety program which
>> is licensed.
>> 
>> As for RSO responsibility/liability, there certainly is some, but again
>> - it depends.  For a broad scope license, the RSO is responsible/liable
>> for running the program but ultimately, there is a Radiation Safety
>> Committee (typically made up of Sr. Managers or others with manager
>> authority) that will be held accountable by regulatory authorities,
>> particularly if they acted without the RSO's knowledge or authorization.
>> All that being said, it would also depend on the RSO's response to the
>> situation, did he/she investigate the incident and report it (if
>> required) in a timely manner?  Did he/she determine specifically what
>> regulations (including company internal procedures) were violated in a
>> timely manner and report it management?  What impact to the public
>> safety and public exposure did the incident have? Etc.. Bottom line is
>> if the RSO's initial response was correct, decisive, and followed
>> responsible HP practices, his/her overall personal liability, if any, is
>> greatly reduced.
>> 
>> Any further insight from RADSAFERs?
>> 
>> Jeff Johanning
>> Health Physicist V/RSO
>> SAIC
>> 858-826-9725
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
>> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Felipe Gaitan
>> Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 7:41 PM
>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
>> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Gral question on RSO liabilities
>> 
>> Dear Radsafers - I have a question on behalf of a colleague of mine.
>> Does anybody have any experience with the situation where a manager in a
>> company ships (in the US) restricted radiation material without
>> consulting with the RSO? Is the RSO still responsible and/or liable?
>> Thanks in advance for your help, 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> D. Felipe Gaitan, Ph.D.
>> Chief Research Scientist
>> Impulse Devices, Inc.
>> 13366 Grass Valley Av.  Unit H
>> Grass Valley, CA  95945
>> Phone: 530-273-6500 Ext. 112
>> Fax:  530-273-6566
>> email: gaitan at impulsedevices.com
>> website: http://impulsedevices.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> 
> D. Felipe Gaitan, Ph.D.
> Chief Research Scientist
> Impulse Devices, Inc.
> 13366 Grass Valley Av.  Unit H
> Grass Valley, CA  95945
> Phone: 530-273-6500 Ext. 112
> Fax:  530-273-6566
> email: gaitan at impulsedevices.com
> website: http://impulsedevices.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> THIS INFORMATION IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE ADDRESSEE(S) AND MAY CONTAIN PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, OR PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, OR THE EMPLOYEE OR AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERING THE MESSAGE TO THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION, DISPLAYING, COPYING, OR USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
> 
> 
> 
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