RAM Posting & Labelling

[Steve Frey <sfreyohp@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

Another common occurrence with seemingly misapplied posting/labelling 
material occurs within the radioactive material user community itself. Some 
lab workers, if left to themselves, will use small "Caution: Radiaoctive
Materials" 
labelled tape to label practically everything in their work areas. In such
labs, 
one can see literally dozens of such labelled items ranging from portable 
radios, purses, backpacks, headsets, eyeglasses, wristwatches (an ironic 
example since some watches contain tritium), staplers, tape dispensers, 
bicycles, and books. The usual reason is "to prevent theft".

Fortunately, the percentage of workers, once properly trained, who abuse 
the process usually is small, and usually is easily manageable as long as 
the HP staff maintains high visibility in the labs and directs that
inappropriate 
labellings be immediately removed. Failure to do so inevitably results in the 
lab worker taking one of these items home or out in public where the labelling 
is then spotted by other, unknowing individuals. The "fun" that can result can 
defy all reason or proportion.




At 12:05 PM 2/19/99 -0600, you wrote:
>     If the person had refused to remove the sign, by what authority can he 
>     be forced to do so?  That is, in what code or regulation is it stated 
>     explicitly - not just infered - that posting these under such 
>     circumstances is legally prohibited.  I know you are supposed to 
>     deface radioactive labels on containers when they no longer contain 
>     radioactive material, but we're talking about a house or facility 
>     being posted, not a container.  Please be specific.  Thank you.
>     
>     jim.dunlap@guardian.brooks.af.mil 
>
>
>______________________________ Reply Separator 
>_________________________________
>Subject: Re: newpaper classified add
>Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at guardian
>Date:    2/19/99 11:38 AM
>
>
> In 1981 while I was working for the PA DEP BRH we received a call from a
>newspaper reporter about someone who had posted their hunting cabin and
>surrounding property with CAUTION RADIATION AREA signs.  I investigated
>and found that the owner's father was a physician at a nearby hospital
>who had obtained the sign from the hospital.  They posted after having
>had the cabin broken into and vandalized several times.  After the
>posting, there were no breakins.  The guy said "It worked, didn't it?"  I
>had to agree, but still had to ask him to remove the postings.  His
>reasoning:  "There's radioactive material all around here in the ground."
> Unfortunately, the levels weren't high enough to allow a posting. 
> Based on that anecdote, perhaps the owner of the pumpkin may find his
>prize returned to his field at some time in the future, unless of course
>it was turned into a number of pumpkin pies before the ad became known.
>
>from Bob Scott
>Roger Williams Medical Center
>Providence, RI
>bobscottchp@juno.com
>
>On Thu, 18 Feb 1999 15:37:48 -0600 (CST) Andrew Karam
><akaram@safety.rochester.edu> writes:
>>Found in an unidentified newspaper recently (and e-mailed to me).  
>>---------------------------------------------
>>
>>Notice: to person or persons who took the large pumpkin on highway 87 
>>near 
>>southridge storage. Please return the pumpkin and be checked. Pumpkin 
>>may be 
>>radioactive. All other plants in vincinity are dead.
>>
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*******************************************
Steve Frey, Head
Operational Health Physics (OHP) Department
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
Phone:(650) 926-3839 (office),
      (650) 926-3030 (fax),
E-mail address: sfreyohp@SLAC.Stanford.EDU
Any thoughts expressed here are not meant 
to speak for SLAC or any other party in any 
capacity unless so stated.
*******************************************
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