HP Quals

["RONALD L. SHEPHERD" <SHEPHRL@GWSMTP.NU.COM>]

Hello all!
The last I heard there ARE qualification requirements for Health Physics
Technicians...ANSI standards...and just about every place I have worked has
required me to at least pass a written exam.  So dangers to the public from a
technician making a mistake due to lack of experience or knowledge are minimal.

And I guess if you want to be a Health Physicist and get certified to perform
that function that is great..more power to you.

My problem is that almost every job posted on this list has a degree and or
certification of some sort required, even for jobs that I would consider Junior
HP Tech work.  Just out of curiosity I usually check out the credentials of the
person posting the job and guess what???  They have a degree and or certs. 
This very same trend happened in the Nuclear Engineering field and we ended up
with a lot of Engineers that were very profecient at General Engineering but
were sorely lacking the experience needed to address even the basic elements
that are necessary in our field.

Now I am seeing the same trend taking place in the HP Technician field and it
is scary to say the least.  As I said in a earlier post, gaining the knowledge
makes one capable of being a Junior Tech.  Then a few years under the wing of
experienced Senior Techs covering the maximum variety of work possible will
have you ready to take the senior exam and possibly an oral board to see how
you think on your feet.  And even after all this your paperwork will be looked
at by a number of people prior to being considered good enough to be a legal
document.

So...what I am driving at is this:

If you want someone to decipher 10 CFR 20 and help you establish limits,
controls, procedures, etc.
And if you want someone to evaluate the exposures that people get out in the
field.
And other tasks of this nature.
What you want is a Health Physicist !!!

If you want someone to ensure that personnel are abiding to the limits,
controls, procedures, etc.
And if you want someone to minimize the exposures that people get in the field.
And if you want a person that has probably seen it done a hundred different
ways and knows the best way to do the job.

Then what you want is a HP Technician.

Very rarely will you see a person that can be both.

Ron Shepherd
shephrl@gwsmtp.nu.com
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