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16 Working Safely in a Radiological Area
16.4 Radiological Health and Safety Officer
Most agencies involved in responding to emergencies will appoint a Health and Safety
Officer (HSO) to see to the welfare of the agency’s personnel at the site. Depending
on the city’s Incident Command System and the scale of the event there might be a
single HSO for the entire site or each agency might have their own HSO. A person in
this position can directly or indirectly affect the health of every person responding to
the incident, making it important that, if possible, the HSO have appropriate training
and experience to carry out their duties competently [3]. The duties of the HSO at
the scene of a radiological incident include [1]:
• Radiation dose management
– Dosimetry and instrument issue
– Remind personnel in Hot Zone to read electronic dosimeters periodically
– Assign stay times and/or dose limits to personnel entering Hot Zone
• Hot Zone management
– Determine and administer PPE requirements for work in Hot Zone
– Maintain Hot Zone entry/exit logs
• Environmental sampling
– Conduct or order radiation surveys, air samples, contamination surveys, and
so forth as appropriate
– Review environmental sampling results and adjust entry requirements as
appropriate
• Record-keeping
– Ensure appropriate records are maintained as called for by policies and
procedures
– Collect records at end of each shift and hold for later reference and use (e.g. to
help adjudicate future compensation claims, for individual occupational health
records, etc.).
In addition to the radiological concerns, the HSO also needs to keep track of the
other health and safety issues as well—heat stress, hydration, breathing apparatus
constraints (e.g. stay time for air supply), and more; it might make sense for some
of these duties to be delegated to subordinates or to delegate the radiological health
and safety duties to someone with expertise in this area.
16 Working Safely in a Radiological Area
16.4 Radiological Health and Safety Officer
Most agencies involved in responding to emergencies will appoint a Health and Safety
Officer (HSO) to see to the welfare of the agency’s personnel at the site. Depending
on the city’s Incident Command System and the scale of the event there might be a
single HSO for the entire site or each agency might have their own HSO. A person in
this position can directly or indirectly affect the health of every person responding to
the incident, making it important that, if possible, the HSO have appropriate training
and experience to carry out their duties competently [3]. The duties of the HSO at
the scene of a radiological incident include [1]:
• Radiation dose management
– Dosimetry and instrument issue
– Remind personnel in Hot Zone to read electronic dosimeters periodically
– Assign stay times and/or dose limits to personnel entering Hot Zone
• Hot Zone management
– Determine and administer PPE requirements for work in Hot Zone
– Maintain Hot Zone entry/exit logs
• Environmental sampling
– Conduct or order radiation surveys, air samples, contamination surveys, and
so forth as appropriate
– Review environmental sampling results and adjust entry requirements as
appropriate
• Record-keeping
– Ensure appropriate records are maintained as called for by policies and
procedures
– Collect records at end of each shift and hold for later reference and use (e.g. to
help adjudicate future compensation claims, for individual occupational health
records, etc.).
In addition to the radiological concerns, the HSO also needs to keep track of the
other health and safety issues as well—heat stress, hydration, breathing apparatus
constraints (e.g. stay time for air supply), and more; it might make sense for some
of these duties to be delegated to subordinates or to delegate the radiological health
and safety duties to someone with expertise in this area.