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Safety and Health Topics: |
| Radiation: Ionizing Radiation |
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Ionizing radiation sources can be found in a wide range of occupational settings,
including health care facilities, research institutions, nuclear reactors and their
support facilities, nuclear weapon production facilities, and other various manufacturing
settings, just to name a few. These radiation sources can pose a considerable health risk
to affected workers if not properly controlled. This page provides a starting point for
technical and regulatory information regarding the recognition, evaluation, and control of
occupational health hazards associated with ionizing radiation.
This page is maintained as a product of the alliance between
OSHA and the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA).
Recognition
- Physical Agents. OSHA Technical Manual, Section VI - Chapter 1, Appendix VI:1-3 (1999, January
20), 2 pages. Contains general exposure and health effect information for ionizing
radiation sources in health care facilities.
- Ionizing Radiation. US EPA, Radiation Protection Division.
- Industries with potential ionizing radiation sources include (Safety and Health Topics):
Evaluation
- Technical Equipment
- Radiation Monitors and Meters. OSHA Technical Manual, Section II - Chapter 3 (1999, January 20), 32
pages. This chapter contains sampling, measurement methods, and instrument information for
ionizing radiation.
- Hospital Investigations: Health Hazards. OSHA Technical Manual, Section VI - Chapter 1 (1999,
January 20), 22 pages. Describes investigation methods for health and safety hazards in
health care facilities, including X-Ray sources.
-
Radiological
Emergencies: Tools, Training, and National Assistance for First
Responders. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2003, January),
2.9 MB
PDF, 25 pages.
Firefighters, police, and other first responders have a variety of
tools, training, and national radiological emergency assistance
available to them. This presentation reviews several categories of
instruments currently available for first responders.
Control
- Radiation Safety Manual. Office of Health and Safety Information System, CDC/OhASIS, Health and Safety
Manual (1991, August), 41 pages. The CDC manual for controlling exposures to radiation at
CDC facilities.
- DOE Radiological Control
Standard. Department of Energy (1999, July), 850 KB
PDF, 187 pages. The DOE Standard
assists line managers in meeting their responsibilities for implementing
occupational radiological control programs.
- Radiation Control Manuals from DOE Laboratories:
- BNL Radiological Control Manual. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Environment, Health
and Safety Manual, Section 3 (1999, April 1).
- Fermilab Radiological Control Program. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
(Fermilab), Chapter 1 (1999, September).
- SLAC Radiological Control Manual. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) (1995, May 15), 1.46 MB
PDF,
268 pages.
- LBNL Radiation Safety. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Health and Safety
Manual, PUB-3000, Chapter 21 (1997, December), 60 pages.
- JLab Ionizing Radiation Protection. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab),
Health and Safety Manual, Chapter 6310 (1996, May 26).
- Guide for Safe Handling of Radioactive Sources and A Primer on the Effects of Exposure to Ionizing Radiation. CalTech Senior Physics Laboratory
(1999, September 17), 8 pages. This safety manual covers the recognition, evaluation, and control of
radioactive sources used in laboratories.
- Chapter 14 of the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Occupational Safety and Health Program (1999, April), 357KB
PDF, 17
pages. The FAA program adopts 1998 radiation exposure limits from ACGIH
in lieu of outdated OSHA standards. It also adopts the ACGIH-endorsed As
Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) principle to keep the radiation
exposure levels below the recommended guidelines in the workplace.
Compliance
- OSHA Standards
- 1910.120, Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. This HAZWOPER standard contains requirements
relating to ionizing radiation at hazardous waste sites.
- 1910.1096, Ionizing
radiation (general industry).
- 1915.57, Uses of
fissionable material in ship repairing and shipbuilding. Ionizing radiation requirements
for ship repairing and shipbuilding activities.
- 1926.53, Ionizing
radiation (construction).
- 1926.65, Hazardous
waste operations and emergency response. This HAZWOPER standard for the construction
industry; also contains requirements relating to ionizing radiation at hazardous waste
sites.
- OSHA Directives
- Review Commission and Administrative Law Judge Decisions
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is an independent Federal agency
created to decide contests of citations or penalties resulting from OSHA inspections of American work places.
To locate decisions related to this topic, search for keywords at
the OSHRC site.
- Standard Interpretations and Compliance Letters
- Bloodborne Pathogens Standard applicability to radiopharmaceutical use (1998, May 18), 2 pages.
- Maintenance of radiation exposure records NRC licensee contractors (1998, February 23), 2 pages.
- Clarification of OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard as it relates to syringes and needles contaminated with both a bloodborne pathogen and radioactive nuclear medicine (1996, October 29), 7
pages.
- Suggested state regulations for control of radiation (1995, September 19), 2 pages.
- Male infertility and welding engineers (1992, October 27), 2 pages. This interpretation includes a
discussion of ionizing radiation sources from various welding operations.
- Definition of an airborne radioactivity area (1992, October 6), 3 pages.
- Definition of Reasonable Diligence as stated in 1910.1096(d)(1) (1991, April 17), 3 pages.
- Application of 1910.120 to emergency Responders at a nuclear power plants (1991, January 28), 13
pages.
- Applicability of 1910.120 to the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project (1990, December 28), 7
pages.
- Ionizing radiation hazards in the workplace (1990, September 27), 5 pages.
- Application of 1910.120 to cleanup of nuclear and hazardous waste (1990, April 4), 3 pages.
- Clarification of the jurisdiction's of OSHA and the NRC in nuclear power plants (1987, January 8), 2
pages.
- OSHA/NRC Interface Activities and Related Information (1985, January 15), 4 pages.
- Review of permissible radiation exposure levels (1984, November 5), 2 pages.
- Respirator air quality standards do not apply where the NRC has jurisdiction (1979, March 6), 2
pages.
- Federal
Register- Ionizing Radiation Standard; Extension of the OMB's
Approval of the information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements
(2001, May 2), 2 pages.
Training
- DOE Radiation Safety Training. Radiation safety training policies, documents, and
materials developed by the DOE.
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) ESH
Training Study Guides:
- General Employee Radiological Training (GERT) Study Guide (2001, May),
943 KB
PDF, 20 pages. This guide is designed for non-radiological workers and includes
general information on radiation sources, health effects, control measures, etc.
- Radiological Worker 1 Study Guide (2000, July), 2.9 MB
PDF,
67 pages. This guide includes information on
radiological fundamentals, biological effects, radiation limits, monitoring, controls, and
more.
- JLab Radiological Worker Training Guide. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
(JLab). A "self-study course" covering radiation fundamentals for workers who
routinely enter radiologically controlled areas.
- SLAC Safety Orientation. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). A web-based training
program designed for non-SLAC employees; includes basic radiation topics.
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Radiation
Training for First Responders. Glenn T. Seabourg Institute, Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory. This page contains several training
presentations in various formats covering topics from understanding
radiation to radiological emergencies.
-
Ionizing Radiation Presentations. This page has the latest OSHA
presentations on safety and health topics including:
- Introduction to Ionizing Radiation. Bob Curtis,
OSHA Salt Lake Technical Center, Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine
(2001), 5.1 MB PPT, 54 slides.
- Introduction
to Ionizing Radiation. Bob Curtis, OSHA Salt Lake Technical Center,
Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine (1999), Slide Presentation, 28
slides.
Other
-
Prussian
Blue (ferric hexacyanoferrate (II)) for Treatment of Internal
Contamination with Thallium or Radioactive Cesium. U.S. Food
and Drug Administration - Center for Drug Evaluation and Research,
(2003, October 3), 1 page, links to PDF files. FDA Approves use
of Prussian Blue for Treatment of Internal Contamination with
Thallium or Radioactive Cesium.
- 10
CFR 20, Standards for Protection Against Radiation. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission's (NRC) rules and regulations for protection
against radiation.
- 10
CFR 835, Occupational Radiation Protection. The radiation
protection standard for Department of Energy (DOE) activities.
- DOE's
Web Page for Information on Occupational Radiation Exposure
(1999, December), 1 page. Several DOE documents on ionizing radiation
and related links.
- DOE
Radiological Hazards Management and Worker Protection. Office
of Worker Health and Safety (2000, January 11). Radiation control
policies, standards, training, and related information.
- Radiation
Protection Division. US EPA (1999, December 28), 2 pages.
EPA radiation protection programs and related information.
-
Radiation
and Health Physics Home Page. University of Michigan (1999,
July 26), 2 pages. Radiation links and other radiation information.
- NCRP.
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (2000,
January 10), 1 page. NCRP information and radiation-related links.
- Armed
Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) (1999, February
4), 1 page. AFRRI information and radiation-related links.
- Radiation
Safety. OSHWEB, Tampere University of Technology, 1 page.
Radiation safety links.
- Radiation
Safety/Health Physics. OSHNET (1999, October 19), 3 pages.
Radiation-related links.
-
Health Physics Society. International professional scientific
organization dedicated to promoting the practice of radiation
safety.
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