Today our Safety Training Tips editor looks at the dangers of radiation exposure and what you can—and must—do to protect your employees.
OSHA defines requirements for workplace radiation safety. OSHA’s ionizing radiation standard (29 CFR 1910.1096) spells out what you must do to protect workers who may be exposed to radiation on the job. The regulations require you to:
- Limit employee exposures to radiation.
- Supply appropriate personal monitoring equipment to employees at risk.
- Restrict entry to radiation areas and post warning signs.
- Label containers of radioactive materials and store them properly.
- Inspect and test systems that produce radiation.
- Dispose of radioactive wastes properly.
- Have signals to warn employees of accidental releases of radiation.
- Immediately report any incidents to OSHA.
Think you’ve got no time to train? Think again. BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer lets you fulfill all key OSHA required training tasks in as little as 7 minutes. Try it at no cost and see! Click to learn more.
Exposure to radiation can affect employees’ health in different ways. Exposure to radiation can affect the cells of the body and either damage or destroy them. The effects can be “acute,” meaning that they show up soon after exposure, or they can be “chronic,” which means they may appear years after exposure. Acute effects of exposures to radiation may include reddening of the skin, hair loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and even death if the dose is very high. Chronic effects include various kinds of cancer and damage to bone marrow or nervous system cells. There can also be “genetic” effects, which could lead to birth defects in any children an employee has after the exposure.
Women who are pregnant have to be especially careful when working around radiation. Prenatal doses of radiation can affect the growth of a fetus, including brain size, and could cause mental retardation or childhood cancers.
Three basic precautions can reduce employee exposures. You can protect employees from hazardous doses of radiation by taking the following steps:
- Limit the amount of time workers spend in areas where they might be exposed. This may include such safety practices as making sure employees know exactly what they need to do and how to do it before entering a restricted area; performing as much work outside a restricted area as possible; and working efficiently in restricted areas.
- Make sure employees remain at a safe distance from radiation sources. This includes enclosing systems that produce radiation; using remote handling devices such as glove boxes when working with radioactive materials; activating radiation-producing equipment from outside the radiation area (for example, when giving X rays); and moving outside radiation areas during work delays.
- Use appropriate shielding to protect employees from radiation. Depending on the type of radiation, shielding may include materials such as plastic, glass, aluminum, concrete, or lead. Employees should also be required to wear appropriate PPE when necessary, including eye protection and protective clothing.
Try 7-Minute Safety Trainer at no cost or risk. Click for details.
Personal monitoring equipment also helps ensure employee safety.
Monitoring devices may include:
- Film or ring badges
- Pocket ion chambers
- Electronic dosimeters
- Neutron bubble dosimeters
All of these devices monitor and record the amount of radiation received by an employee. Self-reading devices can also warn workers in the event of elevated exposure.
Why It Matters…
–OSHA requires you to take a variety of precautions to protect employees from harmful exposure to radiation.
–Hazardous exposures can cause such serious illness as cancer. Exposure to radiation might also have genetic effects, which could lead to birth defects in any children born after the exposure.
–Prenatal exposure to radiation can damage a fetus.