Adequacy of Personnel and Equipment - doe-std-1136-20040050

DOE-STD-1136-2004

Guide of Good Practices for Occupational Radiological Protection in Uranium Facilities

If a safety organization includes the radiological control program, it must be high enough in the

company to allow direct access to the company president or equivalent. If the radiological control program

is administered by a separate radiological control organization, that organization must also be in a position

to have direct access to the company president. This is to safeguard the program from the pressures of

production that exist in the operational environment and to keep it independent of operating organizations.

A system of guides, policies, and procedures should be established to clearly identify the inter-

relationships, responsibilities, and authorities of those involved with the development, operation, and

maintenance of the facility and the health and safety of the employees. These guides, policies, and

procedures should be documented and reviewed at least once every year.

Adequacy of Personnel and Equipment

A sufficient number of qualified and, where required, certified radiological control personnel

must be available to perform necessary tasks for support of uranium facility startup and operation.

Sufficient equipment, including protective clothing, respiratory protective equipment, and radiation

detection instrumentation should be available to support RCTs and operating personne l in the perfor-

mance of work in controlled areas.

Staffing and Staff Qualifications

A cadre of operating and maintenance personnel who have experience in the operation of a

uranium facility should be established during the construction of a new facility. The remainder of the

operating and maintenance staff should be hired as soon as possible and should receive formal and

informal training from the experienced personnel. This step is extremely important to enable all

personnel to grow with the facility and learn the details of the operations. Once operations start,

potential problems already should have been identified, and engineering or administrative changes

should have been made to resolve them.

Staffing in the radiological control organization requires technicians and professionals in many

support areas. A successful radiological control program is highly dependent upon the availability of

adequate staff support in disciplines such as environmental monitoring, instrument maintenance and

calibration, internal and external dosimetry, meteorology, safety analysis, and risk management.

Radiological Control Technician Training

A thorough RCT training program should be established at uranium facilities. Before uranium

operations begin, a trained and qualif ied staff of RCTs should be present. All RCT training should be

accomplished in accordance with the RCS and DOE-HDBK-1122-99, Radiological Control Technician

Training Program (DOE 1999d).

Professional Staffing and Qualifications

The senior staff of the radiological control organization should include health physicists and other

professionals with four-year degrees in science or engineering. A continuing training program should be

established for facility personnel. Pursuit of certification by the American Board of Health Physics for

senior and professional staff members should be encouraged. At least one professional staff

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