Radiation Safety Committee
100 Oak Creek Building, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-7404
541-737-2227
Minutes
Radiation Safety Committee
Meeting of March 20, 2013
Members present:
Members absent:
Guest:
Minutes:
Rosita Rodriguez-Proteau (Chair), Rainier Farmer (Secretary), Scott
Menn, Michael Freitag, Maret Traber, Angel White, Tom Wolpert
Russell Turner, Dan Kermoyan
Richard Riggs, Director of Operations for College of Science Admin.
Terese Keller
Approval of Minutes
Minutes of the December meeting had been distributed to the committee prior to the meeting for
review. Motion to approve as prepared was made by MT, seconded by SM. Motion approved by
unanimous vote.
Action Item updates
• Rainier: send a reminder to x-ray PDs about acquisition pre-approval and maintaining
machine use logs. The information bulletin is still on hold pending completion of x-ray
refresher training material.
• Rainier: benchmark veterinary x-ray student protocols with like institutions. Rainier is in
the process of gathering information on veterinary student x-ray safety training.
• Rainier: send an information bulletin to PDs recommending that the Radiation Safety
Manual be downloaded to a local drive so that it is available if the network is down. The
notice is on hold pending completion of additional revisions to the RSM.
• Rainier: secure liquid containers on shelves in the waste facility. Completed. A ratchet
strap system was used to secure the containers in the event of an earthquake. The shelves
are also secured to the walls, and the waste facility itself was built to EPA Type B permit
standard.
• Rainier: explore options for training RS staff in non-rad hazmat shipping. Work in
progress. IATA shipping regulations were obtained. Non-rad shipping will be integrated
into staff training.
Information Sharing
• Rosita and Rainier gave a presentation to the Research Council on the activities of the
RSC. They reported that the presentation went well and that apart from the position
vacancy, no major concerns were expressed by the Council.
• Rainier reported that the new process of combining program audits with inspections has
been going well.
• Rainier reported that the position vacancy for Mike Zittle’s replacement has been
downgraded. EH&S wants to use the savings to fund two new safety officers instead of
one. Instead of Radiation Protection Technologist 3 (RPT-3), the recruitment will be
RPT-2. This will make it difficult to attract a candidate with the desired combination of
education and experience needed by the department. Rainier has asked to recruit at both
levels as a backup, in case a suitable candidate cannot be found under RPT-2.
Review of Authorizations and Amendments
The Executive Committee Approvals report included three amendments, one renewal, and one
authorization letter for temporary addition of a lab. Rainier noted that the amendment to transfer
an ECD involved research on generally vs. specifically licensed items. Motion to approve with
correction of “Triggers” to “Driggers” was made by MF, seconded by TW. Motion approved by
unanimous vote.
Dosimetry Program - audit by Angel White
Angel conducted the audit on March 12, 2013 with Rainier Farmer, Dan Harlan, and Terese
Keller. Copies of the Dosimetry Program audit report were distributed to the RSC prior to the
meeting. There were no recommendations from the previous audit to review. Angel noted that
VetMed continues to account for the majority of measurable exposures, although the numbers are
trending down from 2011.
Recommendations:
• Move the timing of the dosimetry audit to June to allow for completion of the annual
reports (received by the vendor in April).
• Consider requesting an annual summary of the control badge data from the vendor to help
evaluate possible false positives with the badges.
New Auditor
Tom Wolpert was appointed to perform the Analytical and Cabinet X-ray Program audit. Rosita
Rodriguez-Proteau was appointed to perform the Training Program audit.
Fiscal Affairs – self-audit Rainier Farmer
Rainier performed the self-audit during March 2013. Copies of the Fiscal Program audit were
distributed to the RSC prior to the meeting.
Recommendations:
• Radiation Safety should continue to work to increase the training budget for staff and
identify subsidized training opportunities. The committee agreed that the current base
training budget of $1,000/yr. for professional staff is inadequate to cover both
professional society meetings and specialized technical training. In response to budget
cycle issues, the committee decided to collaborate and vote by email on a set of budget
recommendations. Rainier will benchmark like institutions and regulatory guidance
documents; summary of that information will be sent to the RSC.
• The funding for radioactive waste disposal should be monitored to ensure the budgeted
amount is sufficient to cover expenses and not cause a drain on other operational areas.
The radioactive waste disposal program is an area of special concern due to long term
budget concerns. To date, the budget has been sufficient to cover expenses. Rainier will
find out if any budget savings might be used to move the RPT2 recruitment back to an
RPT3.
• Identify and implement funding strategy for x-ray registration. Historically, x-ray
registration fees were paid to the State of Oregon centrally by Radiation Safety, and
recharged to the equipment owners. At the last registration Accounts Payable refused to
allow research grant indices to pay for machine registration. Radiation Safety absorbed
$560 in x-ray registration costs as a result of the policy. Rainer is working with Business
Affairs staff to resolve this situation.
•
The Radiation Safety Committee and Radiation Safety Officer should closely monitor the
funding of the radiation safety program.
Semiannual Report
There were no unusual trends or items of major concern on the semiannual report. Waste
collection continues, but waste processing numbers are down because of the staff vacancy. Mike
Zittle had worked ahead on lab inspections before he left. Motion to approve the report was
made by TW, seconded by AW. Motion approved by unanimous vote.
ALARA report
The number of people with a detectable dose < 1% of the limit decreased in the fourth quarter.
New Business
An application from David Williams for a Human Use RUA was distributed to the committee
members prior to the meeting.
• The proposed study will involve oral administration of 14C-labled benzo[a] pyrene. It is
similar in type to previous studies by Prof. Williams, but with a larger number of
participants.
• The References noted in “Table 1. Microdosing of Humans with [14C]-Carcinogens in
AMS Studies” were not properly included in the application. The committee requested
that the references be added.
• Rainier noted that the original application incorrectly referenced the dose as not requiring
specific authority to administer to humans. Rainier has informed the Program Director
that the study requires regulatory oversight. Rainier also requested better language for
communicating the risk to volunteers. A comparison to natural background radiation
should be used.
• Item H under Safety Measures: “Assuming a minimum of 50% counting efficiency, we
should obtain at least 5,000 dpm.” This should be 5,000 cpm.
• The committee requested more information on the dosing, specifically on how the volume
is controlled when the capsules are prepared. Details on the dilution of the working
solution into what goes into the capsule should have been in the protocol.
• The number of volunteers was inconsistent in the application. The recruitment number
should allow for attrition and remain the same throughout for the IRB and RSC
applications. The justification for the number should also be provided. A well designed
study with statistical power reduces the possibility of participants having an exposure for
no purpose.
• Rainier will follow up with the Program Director for the additional information and
forward it to the committee members. The required RSC vote can be done by email.
• All human use studies involving use of radioactive materials at OSU require a waiver
from the state. The state requires IRB and RSC approval before considering a waiver
request. The IRB is currently reviewing this project.
Action Items
• Rainier: send a reminder to x-ray PDs about acquisition pre-approval and maintaining
machine use logs, and send information about X-ray refresher training.
• Rainier: benchmark veterinary x-ray student protocols with like institutions and verify
student training protocols with Vet Med.
•
•
•
Rainier: send an information bulletin to PDs recommending that the Radiation Safety
Manual be downloaded to a local drive so that it is available if the network is down.
Rainier: benchmark staff training budgets with like institutions.
Rainier: obtain additional information for the human use project, update the safety review
accordingly, and forward the updated application, draft RUA and safety review to the
RSC for electronic voting.
Next meeting: to be determined.
Rainier Farmer
cn=Rainier Farmer, o=Oregon State
University, ou=Environmental Health
and Safety,
[email protected]
u, c=US
2013.07.11 11:21:16 -07'00'
Rainier Farmer
Secretary
Distribution:
Committee members
R. Spinrad, Vice President for Research
B. Thorsness, Executive Director, Campus Operations
P. Hughes, Chief Risk Officer
M. McCambridge, Vice President for Finance and Administration