Re: Documenting Surveys by Lab Personnel

[Tony Hedges <loui19@vcomm.net>]

At 09:54 PM 4/17/96 -0500, you wrote:
>Good Afternoon!  Our Radiation Safety Guide requires lab personnel to record
>the results of contamination surveys in a survey log - this includes the sur-
>vey they perform as they open radioisotope packages, as well as the work area
>and personal surveys which they perform.  It was suggested to us during an
>audit of our radiation safety program that we should consider eliminating the
>need to document surveys done by lab personnel.  The surveys would continue to
>be performed but no records of those surveys would exist.  Please note also
>our Health Physics Section does perform routine contamination surveys which are
>and would continue to be documented.
>
One of the 'benefits' a documented survey provides is a history of events
and conditions in an area.  This can be very important when your business is
being sued for damages caused by exposure to radioactivity.  There have been
a number of court cases in which individuals have sued companies for
illnesses they claim were caused by exposure to radioactive material.  If
you do not have documentation to back up your experts on the stand you have
placed yourself in a poor position and could loose the suit.

Also there have been a number of incidents in the last couple of years at
universities where inadequate or not existent surveys lead to contamination
spreading throughout the facility, to workers cars and homes.  If you have
the fortune to 'entertain' a NRC Inspection team after one of these events,
documented surveys will show your level of effort in detecting and
preventing such events.

As for surveying incoming packages, a documented survey can be used to
justify sending the package back to the sender.  Just recently a company in
Louisiana received two sources from a company in Korea.  The receipt survey
discovered radiation levels in excess of DOT limits ( a factor of 10).  When
all was said and done a number of individuals received dose from several
mrem to rem.

Tony Hedges
RPT
loui19@vcomm.net