Student Use of Radiation

["FS BOSTON ROBERT DENNIS" <BOSTROBE@fs.isu.edu>]

At Idaho State U. all radiation workers (not x-ray techs) both 
professors and students go through an initial 4-6 hour rad safety 
course.  The length of the course is dependent on the audience, 
meaning it is generally shorter for the HP and Nuc Eng students than 
it is for students that have never had any real exposure (pun not 
intended) to radioactive materials.  Additionally anyone who can 
prove they've had radsafe training before, can just take the test 
(about 22 questions), talk to one of the radiation safety office 
staff and be allowed to use radioactive materials.

We also make it perfectly clear that the professor has a big 
responsibility in the training of his/her students in thier local 
safety procedures.

In undergraduate labs that the students never have to come in contact 
with radioactive materials (the lab intructors perfrom all the work 
with the sources or isotope) we generally give a one hour briefing. 
We then hold the lab instructor responsible for the safe use of the 
materials in the lab.

Finally we require annual refresher training for all radiation 
workers.  This usually takes about 30 minutes and covers the 
following:  1) ISU organizational chart for the use of radiation 2) 
radiation emergencies 3) dose limits 4) restricted areas 5) lab 
classification scheme 6) any additional items that the instructor 
wants to cover (like lessons learned from other facilities)
Robert Boston
Box 8106
Idaho State University
Pocatello, Id 83209-8106
208/236-2311

The standard disclaimer applies