P-32/Badging

["Wesley M. Dunn" <WDUNN@brc1.tdh.state.tx.us>]

I am extremely concerned with the concept of HPs stating individuals
should be badged for peace of mind or lawsuit protection.

What do you do when:

a false positive shows up?
the person claims they didn't wear their badge (/properly)?
the person claims there was an internal uptake?
the person claims.....?

Rob Gunter mentioned a couple of key points: particularly surveys and
good control measures.  I would also like to mention the concept of
training.  A person who thinks the badge gives them peace of mind
obviously doesn't understand what they are working with and what the
badge really does.  NOTHING replaces good survey and training
programs.  If I can demonstrate 10 years of null badge readings AND 10
years of null survey results, what purpose does the badge serve?  A
good survey will always find a spill bad enough to cause an
overexposure.

Several years ago (when I did real work) we went in and talked to
every P-32 lab.  We explained why the didn't need a badge.  They
accepted it.  A very few people still wanted their badge.  We said,
ok, how about if we come back in 3 months?  If there are no results,
you can turn in your badge then.  They agreed.  They turned in their
badges 3 months later.  Why?  Because they understood why the badge
wasn't needed.

Sorry, but you hit a pet peeve (I did manage to hold off for several
days though!).

This is obviously a personal opinion.

Wes