Radiation Safety Orientation

Radiation Safety Office Clinical Building 159 Office 274-4797 Radiation Safety Fax 274-2332 Waste 274-6746 E-mail: [email protected] Newsletter

MAY 2003 the Radiation Safety Office, CL-159 Holiday Schedule or faxed to 274-2332. The RSO will be closed on Monday, May 26th and Friday, July 4th. Please ~ Upcoming Events ~ keep this in mind when placing Counting Rooms orders and scheduling waste pick- ups. All counting rooms (e.g., LSC and Radiation Safety Orientation gamma counters) must be added to (CL 126) your Radionuclide Use Permits when the equipment is relocated or May 16, 2003 Survey Meter Calibration when another counting room is 9:30 am – 11:00 am Our office will begin calibrating used. In addition, counting rooms June 20, 2003 survey meters on May 12, 2003. must be surveyed each month when 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm Lab personnel may begin bringing radioactivity is utilized. meters to our office as early as May July 18, 2003 7th, but no earlier. All meters must 9:30 am – 11:00 am be received by Friday, May 9th. If Standing Orders for your lab has more than one meter, Upcoming FY 03-04 Radiation Safety Course we can calibrate one then exchange (Fesler Hall 211B – Hurty Hall) it for another. Please remember to The current standing orders will remove all plastic caps before expire on June 30, 2003. Permit June 2, 2003 through June 6, 2003 Holders with existing standing 8:30 am – 10:30 am bringing the meter to our office. In addition, all plastic wrap covering orders will be receiving a Radioactive Materials Requisition to ~ Radiation Safety Staff ~ the probe window should be removed (this lowers the efficiency complete for FY 03-04. If you are Radiation Safety Officer of the probe). Each lab will be interested in setting up a new Mack Richard, M.S., C.H.P. contacted once calibration is standing order, please contact Judy Savage at 274-4797. Assistant Radiation Safety Officers completed. Failure to have your Jeff Mason, B.S. meter calibrated will result in Alisha Mahin, B.S. Kathi Elliott, B.S. suspension of radionuclide ordering privileges. Appropriate Procedures Health Physicist Mike Smith, B.S. for Use of Radioactive

Technician Training Sign-Off Forms Material Drew Wade, B.S. The semi-annual refresher training We wish to reiterate the appropriate Purchasing Agent form, Removable Contamination procedures for utilizing radioactive Judy Savage (Wipe) Survey, was sent the material: Secretary beginning of April to all Permit 1. Lab coats and disposable Debbie Phillips Holders. The Verification of gloves should be worn Radiation Safety Training Forms Radiation Safety Web Site during the use of radioactive were due back at the Radiation http://www.iupui.edu/~radsafe material. Safety Office by April 30th. If you This newsletter is issued quarterly in February, have not returned this form, please 2. Open-toed shoes and shorts May, August, and November. do immediately. It can be mailed to should not be worn in the

PLEASE CIRCULATE AND FILE IN YOUR RADIONUCLIDE INVENTORY AND SURVEY BOOK lab when you utilize Radiation Safety Training material. All new radioactive material users, 3. Check yourself and work including temporary personnel (e.g., areas with a survey meter summer students, interns, etc.), and (GM), when applicable. individuals previously approved These simple procedures will reduce who have left the university or have your risk of personal contamination. not been listed on a permit for a period of two years or more are required to attend the Radiation Packaging of Sharps Safety Orientation. A completed Radiation Safety A-3 Form, We would like to reiterate the Authorization to Use Radioactive requirements for packaging sharp Materials, should be submitted to objects (e.g., needles, Pasteur the RSO prior to the initial use of pipettes, etc.) that are contaminated radioactive materials. After with radioactive material. As most receiving this form, our office will are aware, any radioactive “sharps” send notification/RSVP for the next that have come in contact with orientation. In addition to attending blood, blood products, blood-born the orientation, all new radioactive pathogens, or infectious agents users with inadequate (including infectious agents that can training/experience with be transferred from animals to radionuclides must attend the humans) must be placed in a Radiation Safety Course. commercially available “sharps” Temporary employees (i.e., container prior to disposal. The individuals working in a lab for less sharps containers should be properly than 6 months) are required to treated (e.g., autoclaved) prior to complete the orientation but not the placing them in one of our course. These individuals must be radioactive waste containers. supervised during their work with radioactivity. While use of a commercially available sharps container is not required for sharp objects that are not biologically hazardous, the Department of Environmental Health and Safety strongly encourages the use of such containers for all sharp objects. However, a currently acceptable alternative is to place these non- biohazardous sharps in a puncture resistant container (e.g., cardboard box), tape that container closed, and then place it in our radioactive waste box. This “double-containment” idea provides reasonable assurance that individuals will not get “stuck” when handling the radioactive waste containers.