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RE: HP a Profession?
As a Power Plant Employee, I tend to agree that the "Road Tech" brings a
wealth of experience to a situation that may not be available to the run
of the mill "house tech", after all, they do the odd ball stuff just
about every day instead of once or twice in a career.
I would also like to add that whether the tech is house or contractor,
that a lack of basic knowledge of theory and principles can have serious
consequences. For example, the use of a normally used instrument to
indicate the dose rate on an item that has a non-routine energy spectrum
has lead to a number of industry events. This is not intended to
belittle house techs, because they also bring skills and knowledge to
the table that are difficult for many road techs to acquire. NRRPT
certification is certainly valuable for both.
On the other hand, when mention is made to a "Qualified Health
Physicist", that has a different meaning, that, I believe from NCRP's,
indicates a certified Health Physicist, i.e. not an HP tech.
... mine and mine alone ...
Ron LaVera
lavera.r@nypa.gov
-----Original Message-----
From: Keeley-1, Jamie [mailto:Jamie.Keeley-1@pp.ksc.nasa.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 1999 10:54 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: RE: HP a Profession?
Just a quick comment from an Ex- Road Tech.
HP technicians and HP's are quite different from each other indeed. The
road tech gets the job done, usually efficiently and timely. Without
the HP
road tech workhorse,( and workhorse meaning those poor souls that have
to
work 72-84 hours per week to support two households - one on the road,
and
one permanent location) not much would get accomplished beyond the
expertise
of an (speaking of power plant environments of course). It has been a
sad
state for road tech's in the last few years with job opportunity
diminishing greatly in the nuclear power plant industry - hovever, with
all
of the cross training and hands on experience in Health Physics and
Industrial Hygiene a technician is exposed to, I would think that hiring
an
HP technician for some of the jobs I've seen posted on RADSAFE would be
just
as beneficial as to hiring a degreed HP. Most HP technicians I know and
have worked with are either NRRPT certified, or are working towards a
degree
in a related field. The two go hand in hand, (tech's and HP's) and
neither
should be disregarded as being a viable resource for jobs.
As for progressing from a junior HP to a CHP - I don't see how one would
be
able to do that in a timely matter without some kind of intense formal
education - ie. degreed HP. Not every job in health physic requires
such
an advanced education - which brings me back to the point - HP tech's
and
HP's are two different but necessary distinctions in the health physics
world.
Clearly my own opinion.
> ----------
> From: LIPTONW@dteenergy.com[SMTP:LIPTONW@dteenergy.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 1999 6:02 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: Re: HP a Profession?
>
> Your message raises some important questions regarding HP Technicians
> versus
> HP's and education versus experience. I both agree and disagree with
you.
>
>
> 1. Education is very important, including some formal education. The
> problem
> with experience alone, is that the test comes before the lesson. More
> than
> specifics, it's important to be able to handle situations where the
> conventional wisdom doesn't apply, and to think of creative solutions.
> Not
> all of this education has to be formal. It's as much an attitude and
a
> willingness to devote the time to self study, as the formal, "bean
> counting".
>
> 2. Having said that, it's just as important to realize the
limitations of
>
> education. As one of my teachers put it, "A degree is a hunting
license,
> not
> a meal ticket." Knowing what you don't know is generally more
important
> than
> knowing what you know, and a truly educated person is always learning.
>
> 3. I regret that you see a dichotomy between health physicists and
health
>
> physics technicians. We're all in it, together. A good organization
> offers
> technicians the opportunity to move up; and, indeed, encourages this.
>
> The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
> It's not about dose, it's about trust.
>
> Bill Lipton
> liptonw@dteenergy.com
>
> You wrote:
>
> >As far as this profession goes, it is dying a fairly rapid death for
the
> >make a distinction here because we seem to be getting confused
> >about Health Physicists and HP Techs.
>
> >They are separate professions and should be handled accordingly. You
> don't
> >need a college educated 'rocket scientist' to go into the field and
> perform
> HP
> >technician duties. What you need is a person that is experienced at
> working
> >with people, can take a survey and understand what it means, a person
> that
> can
> >be a:
> >cop...politician...jr scientist...weight
> lifter...EMT...auditor...instrument
> >tech...baby sitter...author...counselor...judge of character..
>
> >etc etc
>
> >But I keep seeing job listings on this list that are increasingly
> requiring
> a
> >degree for performing HP tech duties and that has me concerned
because
> you
> >don't learn to be a HP tech in a classroom. You learn to be a junior
HP
> tech
> >in a classroom.
>
> >Ron Shepherd
> >shephrl@gwsmtp.nu.com
>
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