The Radiation Safety Office Newsletter

Volume I Number 4 For the University of Maryland Campus February 6, 1998

The Radiation Safety Office at the University of Maryland shall publish on the first of each month a Newsletter on topics concerning Radiation Protection and Use of Radioisotopes and Radiation Producing Devices. The topic of this issue is classes of users operating under the University License.

The University of Maryland, College Park operates under an Agreement State License from the Maryland Department of the Environment. Individuals are authorized to use radioactive material and radiation producing devices by the Radiation Safety Committee. In the interim during which the Committee does not meet, the Radiation Safety Officer approves individuals for use of material and machines.

Whether personnel are working with material or devices the same classes of users are utilized for either type of work. These three classes are the Principal Investigator or the PI, the Authorized User, and the Individual User. There are clear and distinct differences between these classes.

The Principal Investigator or PI is the sole person responsible for the use of materials and or machines in his/her lab. In order to become a PI the individual must submit an application for authorization to the Radiation Safety Office. This application requires information such as the room numbers and areas where radiation is to be employed and stored, what type of precautions are to be taken to prevent exposure both external and internal, the types of radiation to be used, the activity of each isotope, the chemical formula, and the experimental protocol whereby the isotopes will be employed. In addition this person completes and submits a Training and Experience Form documenting their formal and On the Job Training using isotopes or radiation producing machines. This information is reviewed by the Radiation Safety Officer and/or his staff. Approval or denial of an authorization is then granted by the RSO until further action can be taken up by the Radiation Safety Committee.

The PI is responsible for planning experiments, providing equipment for safe use of isotopes and machines, instructing personnel in the safe use materials and radiation producing machines, notifying the Radiation Safety Office or personnel changes or any other intended changes to his/her authorization. Any change must be made in writing to the Radiation Safety Officer and so approved prior to putting into action. The PI is the only person who can request changes to the authorization.

The Authorized User is an individual added to the authorization at the request of the PI. This person may work unsupervised in the lab. How does one become an authorized user? This individual must first attend a formal training class on radiation safety, complete 40 hours of On the Job training in the lab, read the Radiation Safety Manual and complete the Training and Experience Form (T&E) . The PI must sign the T&E and forward this request to the RSO for action. Until the individual is approved by the RSO as an Authorized User the person must work under the PI's supervision or that of an authorized user. In this way the PI maintains control of the users in the laboratory, since they are intimately aware or their ability to work with material or radiation producing devices. As mentioned above authorized users may then supervise other individuals in the lab.

The remaining class of user is the Individual User. This person must work supervised at all times in the lab, either by the PI or the Authorized User. All new personnel are automatically designated as individual users until the requirements of authorized user status has been competed and approved. All individuals are required to receive training in the use of radioactive materials or radiation producing machines. Whether all individuals become Authorized Users is left to the decision of the PI, the RSO and finally the RSC.

We would greatly appreciate your feedback about this site.

UM Home | Directories | Search | Admissions | Calendar
Maintained by Department of Environmental Safety
Direct questions and comments to safety@umd.edu