Re: HP Job Shortage - IH/HP question

[Alex Zapantis <a.zapantis@qut.edu.au>]

At 01:28 PM 4/4/96 -0600, you wrote:
>
>An informal survey...How many RADSAFE subscribers who consider Radiation 
>Safety & Health Physics to be their main job are also finding themselves 
>responsible for IH, Occupational Safety, and Environmental Compliance?

I am described by the above. When I first commenced employment here at QUT,
I was solely the RSO and didn't even know what IH was. Now, 2 years later, I
find myself Acting as the manager of the Health & Safety Section at QUT and
have responsibility for all of the above. I can say that I have found the
transition from HP to HP + OH&S professional both easy and rewarding.
Another interesting point is that the other staff of the Section who are
trained in Industrial Hygiene, ergonomics, general OH&S etc have not
accepted any HP tasks. As "radiation lay persons" they have difficulty
understanding the units (ie activity, dose etc). This is not a reflection on
them. I'm sure they could pick it up if they tried. It seems that they just
take the view that its all too hard and return to the security of what they
know.

Another contributing factor to their reluctance to believe me when I say
"Its not that hard" is that their training is "soft on science". The degrees
they have completed are fairly empirical so they are not used to boiling a
problem down to its components and using first principles to solve it if the
nature of the problem is outside their experience.

Bottom line... I think it is much easier to start life as an HP and move to
IH or general OH&S. 

Regards
 
  Alex Zapantis                                         
  Radiation Safety Officer                                     
  Queensland University of Technology 
  Acting Manager       
  Health & Safety Section                             
  Locked Bag No.2                    Ph     : 61 7 3864 3566
  Red Hill Qld 4059                    fax     : 61 7 3864 3993
  AUSTRALIA                           Email  : a.zapantis@qut.edu.au    

     *****************************************************************
       "If I could remember the names of all those particles
        I would have become a botanist."
                                                            Enrico Fermi

     *****************************************************************