Cobalt 60 is the main problem as the 1/2 life is too short.
HSE inspecting school for radiation
- Thread starter USAexpat
- Start date
Nick Mitchener
COMMITTEE
That's one source, there are alternatives, and even Cobalt-60 can be amortised over 15 years.
karen b
COMMITTEE
Following on from this
Does anyone here have an official title of assistant rps and get a point or two up the pay scale as a result? I think the HoD would support me if I asked for this, but having some examples would help my case. (Not that we have a pay scale, and realistically it would be more like a fiver a month for doing it)
Yes, it's one of the things that I raised in my recent job description and pay review and, alongside other things, it resulted in my role being regraded
I haven't actually done the training yet, as I refused until the pay was sorted, but I will be soon.We are wanting to move the safe the sources are kept in, but I think the inspectors would have a problem with the suggested site as it is in the prep room next to our fridge. Do we have to have the safe in a locked cupboard in the prep room rather than just on the wall of the prep room?
Purple Cat
It's real Science not Rocket Science
Really it should be in an area not frequently used by anyone. Failing that; (From CLEAPSS Guide L093);
"The store room must be restricted to science staff only, using a good-quality unique lock. Do not store radioactive sources in a teaching laboratory. A lockable science store room off a prep room or off a laboratory is ideal; a lockable cupboard in a prep room is acceptable. A store room used by the cleaners, or a general stationery cupboard used by school staff, or a boiler room, or an outside store are all examples of completely unsuitable store rooms.
Ground floor store rooms with standard glazed windows on an external wall are too easily broken into. If this is your only realistic choice of store room, you will need to improve the physical security, for example by fitting obscured laminated glazing. We don’t advise fitting external bars etc across windows as it may unintentionally flag that there is ‘something inside worth stealing’."
Nick Mitchener
COMMITTEE
If anybody in an LA role is graded higher or paid more for looking after sources I'd appreciate knowing what grade you are on.
I'm not at all impressed with the attitude here towards pay for Techs, but they use the excuse that nothing can be done as it is all decided by County.
I'm not at all impressed with the attitude here towards pay for Techs, but they use the excuse that nothing can be done as it is all decided by County.
I suspect you won't get far - the RPS can delegate tasks but they cannot delegate responsibility and it's usually responsibility that gets better pay!
Ours are in a locked box, bolted to a wall, in our undercroft.. Literally in the foundations. Even security don't go in there.. It's dark and scary, with rat traps. 2 doors between that and the "useable" building, excluding service corridors that only site can access. Plus a totally different key for the box itself.
Do you have Radiological Protection Advisor?
Purple Cat
It's real Science not Rocket Science
I have recieved an e-mail today (again!) asking about making sure the paperwork is correctly filled in for our non-existent radioactive sources as has my HoD.
HoD does not want to be notified either to the SMT / Business Manager / Site Manager as an RPO (and I doubt anyone else would - we no longer have a Physics specialist).
We both have said we don't have any but apparently we still have to have the paperwork filled in 'just in case' which is not true as we have no intention of getting any and couldn't store them safely even if we did intend to get them.
Anyone else being faced with all the hassle of this even though you don't have radioactive sources?
Being asked to prove a negative again is a pain in the ****.
HoD does not want to be notified either to the SMT / Business Manager / Site Manager as an RPO (and I doubt anyone else would - we no longer have a Physics specialist).
We both have said we don't have any but apparently we still have to have the paperwork filled in 'just in case' which is not true as we have no intention of getting any and couldn't store them safely even if we did intend to get them.
Anyone else being faced with all the hassle of this even though you don't have radioactive sources?
Being asked to prove a negative again is a pain in the ****.
Nick Mitchener
COMMITTEE
you definitely don't need the paperwork if you don't have the sources, though not sure how you teach without them. You could, just, do it with artefacts and a GM tube
Purple Cat
It's real Science not Rocket Science
That's exactly my point but the site manager won't have it, he is insisting that the paperwork be filled in because someone has asked it to be done (I'm going to find out who - even if it is some bureaucrat at the HSE)
if you did have them then you should have disposal records maybe.
are you registered with the hse? maybe you need to update the records there.
Purple Cat
It's real Science not Rocket Science
We do have the disposal records, I have copies and so does the site manager
Purple Cat
It's real Science not Rocket Science
Who / how do I contact the HSE and is it actually my responsibility as a Senior Technician?
No whichever teacher was rps but they never do their job...
try here, you probably need the email of whoever registered.
Purple Cat
It's real Science not Rocket Science
As it was 27 years ago they won't have an e-mail and may not still be around