Re: HP lab survey frequency

[Paul Lavely <lavelyp@uclink4.berkeley.edu>]

Most of our rad safety staff surveys are once a quarter and are meter and
swipe; however, for "new" labs and if a lab is having "problems" we visit
more often.

We have a requirement for each lab to survey and document that survey on a
basis that is determined by the isotope, chemical form, process, amount
used, and previous history with the lab. Some uses require lab staff to
survey after the noted use.

We have about 220 PI's and more than 700 labs. The rad safety office does
between 800 and 1,000 routine surveys (of all labs under a specific PI) per
year.

This system has worked very well for us for over 8 years. It is now rare
for us to find contamination above 3X background. The amount and frequency
of rad safety staff finding contamination has been reduced dramatically
since we started (about 8 years ago) the REQUIREMENT that labs do routine
surveys and document them. We now seldom find any contamination.

Our basis for this program has been the reduced amounts used (better
availability of compounds has reduced the need for the lab to make a
special product), a change to isotopes that are "easier to find" (i.e.,
changes from H-3 and C-14 to P-32 etc.) lab staff have been trained in self
survey techniques, that the labs are doing documented self-surveys, and
that the program has been very effective.

I will be glad to provide more information or to discuss this with anyone
interested. This program coupled withe the training program has been a real
success story for UCB.

Paul Lavely
Director and RSO
UC Berkeley
lavelyp@uclink4.berkeley.edu
(510) 643-7976


>
>How often does your health physics staff visit and survey
>laboratories in your organization? Wipes, meter survey, that type of
>survey.
>
>Approximately how many labs do you survey at that frequency?
>
>Do you usually find contamination during your smear survey and
>
>BOB Milwicz, RSO Princeton University
>Milwicz@princeton.edu
>If you have time, visit our web site at
>www.princeton.edu/~ehs



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