RETAIL SCANNERS - RADIATION BURNS

[<L691731@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM>]

There certainly can be a tremendous shortage of understanding and
awareness of the real risk potential on the part of checkstand operators
from such systems, and that can lead to false perceptions of harm. When
in line at a supermarket a couple years ago a customer in front of me
asked the checker if they were dangerous to look into. He replied "if
you look right at it for more than 10 seconds you'll go blind, but it
shuts off automatically after 6 seconds so its okay". Think about what
that says about that persons risk perception. It's only HALF what it
takes to BLIND you, so no problem. I wonder if he would apply that to
radiation exposure. "It takes about 400 rads to kill you, but it shuts
off after only 200, so it's okay." We had experience here with an
individual who became extremely concerned after experiencing a brief
latent image after catching a lecture pointer beam in the eye
momentarily. Safety personnel need to be ready to address these
situations, I believe, by having the data to provide a realistic
perspective. The sources cited by some other respondents so far are the
ones I would use as well.

Steven Souza, Lockheed Missles and Space Co., Inc.
Alternate Radiation Safety Officer    tel (408) 742-0767
Sunnyvale, CA 94089                   fax (408) 742-0611
PROFS: SSOUZA  Internet: L691731@lmsc5.is.lmsc.lockheed.com
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Subject: RETAIL SCANNERS - RADIATION BURNS
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Reply-to: Don.Mitchell@p0.f210.n244.z1.fidonet.org (Don Mitchell)
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Has anyone heard of cashiers developing a radiation burn from scanners used in
 retail point of sales systems.

All replies will be appreciated.

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