Re: Dose estimates when dosimetry is lost/damaged

[Bob Flood <bflood@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

At 07:32 PM 12/19/96 -0600, you wrote:
>	Gentlemen! I think we have an apples and oranges discussion
>	going here, mainly  due to the different backgrounds (nuclear
>	power versus medical.)  IMHO:
>
>	1/ There are significant differences in how "controlled"
>	     controlled areas are, and how many miscellaneous workers
>	     and visitors are occasionally present in these controlled areas.
>
Not only is this exactly on the mark, but let me add another feature - in a
nuclear power environment, lost dosimeters are uncommon, and the
investigations that ensue can be rather comprehensive without creating an
extraordinary workload.

In a less structured working environment, with large numbers of people
flowing thru the area, lost dosimeters are more common, and the workload of
the ensuing investigations is formidable.

I'd also like to throw in with Sandy on one issue. One-size-fits-all
approaches (to anything) generally can be made to fit everything, but they
fit almost everything badly. A commercial processor that generates a dose
of record in place of missing dosimeter data using a standard algorithm
will simply generate a number. Without attention from the HP staff at the
monitoring facility, that estimate more accurately demonstrates the
facility's indifference than the worker's dose. A company that accepts
without comment such estimates could be inviting plaintiff's lawyer to tell
the jury that the employer didn't care what the dose was, wasn't involved
in determining the dose, etc, etc. And most (maybe all) juries would buy it.

BTW, a commercial lab can very easily be a defendent in a radiation injury
lawsuit, especially if the suing party believes the lab has more money than
the employer. That's how BASF loses a suit in which they sold raw plastic
to a company, that company manufactured a product that failed and injured
someone. BASF was included based on ability to pay, not on active liability
for a defect.

Disappearing for the holidays now. Happy Whatever!!!




Bob Flood
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
(415) 926-3793     bflood@slac.stanford.edu
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are mine alone.