New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Chapter I - State Sanitary Code
Part 16 - Ionizing Radiation
General Provisions
Section 16.13 - Notices, instructions and reports to workers; inspections
Universal Citation: 10 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 16.13
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) Purpose and scope. This section establishes requirements for notices, instructions and reports by radioactive materials licensees or radiation-producing equipment registrants to individuals engaged in work under a license or registration, and options available to such individuals in connection with inspections of the activities and facilities of licensees or registrants by the department or health officer having jurisdiction to ascertain compliance with the provisions of this Part, orders and licenses issued thereunder regarding radiological working conditions.
(b) Posting of notices to workers.
(1) Each licensee or
registrant shall post current copies of the following documents:
(i) the regulations of this Part;
(ii) the radioactive materials license and
conditions or documents incorporated into the license by reference and
amendments thereto, or the certificate of registration;
(iii) the operating procedures (including
emergency procedures) applicable to work under the license or registration;
and
(iv) any notice of violation
involving radiological working conditions, proposed imposition of civil penalty
or order issued pursuant to the provisions of the Public Health Law, and any
response from the licensee or registrant.
(2) If posting of a document specified in
paragraph (1) of this subdivision is not practicable, the licensee or
registrant may post a notice which describes the document and states where it
may be examined.
(3) A current copy
of "Notice to Employees" shall be posted by each licensee or registrant
wherever individuals work in or frequent any portion of a restricted
area.[FN6]
(4) Documents, notices
or forms posted pursuant to this section shall be conspicuous, be replaced if
defaced or altered, and appear in a sufficient number of places to permit
individuals engaged in work under the license or registration to observe them
on the way to or from assigned work locations to which the document
applies.
(5) Department documents
shall be posted within two working days after receipt of the documents from the
department; the licensee's or registrant's response, if any, shall be posted
within two working days after dispatch from the licensee or registrant. Such
documents shall remain posted for a minimum of five working days or until
action correcting violations, if any, has been completed, whichever is
later.
(c) Instructions restricted. All individuals likely to receive an occupational dose or frequenting any portion of a restricted area shall be:
(1) informed of the storage, transfer or use
of radioactive material, of radiation-producing equipment or of radiation in
such portions of the restricted area;
(2) instructed in the operating procedures
applicable to work under the license or registration and the health protection
problems associated with exposure to such radioactive material or radiation, in
precautions or procedures to minimize exposure, in the purposes and functions
of protective devices employed, and required to demonstrate familiarity with
such precautions, procedures and devices;
(3) instructed in, and instructed to observe,
to the extent within the worker's control, the applicable provisions of this
Part and licenses for the protection of personnel from exposures to radiation
or radioactive material occurring in such areas;
(4) instructed of their responsibility to
report promptly to the licensee or registrant any condition which may lead to
or cause a violation of the department regulations and licenses or unnecessary
exposure to radiation or radioactive material;
(5) instructed in the appropriate response to
warnings made in the event of any unusual occurrence of malfunction that may
involve exposure to radiation or radioactive material; and
(6) advised as to the radiation exposure
reports which workers must be given or may request pursuant to subdivision (d)
of this section.
(7) the extent of
the instructions required under this subdivision shall be commensurate with the
nature and level of the likely exposure and with potential radiological health
problems in the restricted area. Instruction shall be given before an
individual begins work likely to result in receiving an occupational dose or
before an individual begins work in a restricted area and at least annually
thereafter. Records documenting individual worker instruction shall be
maintained for inspection by the department for a period of three
years.
(d) Notification and reports to individuals.
(1) Radiation
exposure data for an individual and the results of any measurements, analyses
and calculations of radioactive material deposited or retained in the body of
an individual shall be reported to the individual as specified in this
subdivision. The information reported shall include data and results as shown
in records maintained by the licensee or registrant pursuant section
16.14(f)(1)(i)-(vi)
of this Part. Each notification and report shall be in writing and include
appropriate identifying data, such as the name of the licensee or registrant,
the name of the individual, the individual's social security number, together
with the individual's exposure information and, in addition, contain the
following statement: "This report is furnished to you under the provisions of
Part 16, New York State Sanitary Code, and should be preserved for further
reference."
(2) Each licensee or
registrant shall advise each worker annually of the worker's exposure to
radiation or radioactive material as shown in records maintained by the
licensee or registrant pursuant to section
16.14(f)(1)(i)-
(vi) of this Part.
(3) At the request of a worker formerly
engaged in work controlled by the licensee or the registrant, each licensee or
registrant shall furnish to the worker a report of the worker's exposure to
radiation or radioactive material. Such report shall:
(i) be furnished within 30 days from the time
the request is made, or within 30 days after the exposure of the individual has
been determined by the licensee or registrant, whichever is later;
(ii) cover, within the period of time
specified in the request, each calendar year in which the worker's activities
involved exposure to radiation from radioactive material licensed by, or
radiation-producing equipment registered with the department;
(iii) contain the results of any planned
special exposure dose to the embryo/fetus and include only calculations and
analysis of radioactive material deposited in such individual's body, including
any bioassay or other medical evaluation services of which records are required
by section
16.14(f)(1)(ii)-
(vi) of this Part; and
(iv) include the dates and locations of work
under the license or registration in which the worker participated during this
period.
(4) When a
licensee or registrant is required pursuant to section
16.15 of this
Part to report to the department any exposure of an individual to radiation or
radioactive material, the licensee or the registrant shall also provide to the
individual a report on his exposure data included therein. Such reports shall
be transmitted at a time not later than the transmittal to the
department.
(5) At the request of
any worker who has been engaged in a work assignment in an area controlled by a
licensee or registrant for purposes of radiation protection, and who is
terminating employment in such work assignment in a given calendar quarter, the
licensee or registrant shall provide a written report of the radiation dose
received by that worker from operations of the licensee or registrant during
that specifically identified calendar quarter or fraction thereof. The report
shall be provided to the worker or the worker's designee at termination, and if
the final determined personnel monitoring results are not available at that
time, a written estimate of that dose shall be provided in the interim.
Estimated doses shall be clearly indicated as such.
(e) Inspections; presence of representatives of licensees or registrants and workers during inspection.
(1) Each licensee or registrant shall afford
the department or health officer having jurisdiction at all reasonable times
opportunity to inspect:
(i) the radiation
source and the installation, institution, establishment, and premises or
facilities at which such source is located, possessed, stored or
used;
(ii) each record required to
be maintained by this Part.
(2) During an inspection, the licensee or
registrant shall conduct, or permit the department or health officer having
jurisdiction to conduct, such tests as the department or health officer may
require, including but not limited to tests of:
(i) any radiation source and the
installation, institution, establishment, premises or facilities at which such
radiation source is located, possessed, stored or used; and
(ii) the personnel monitoring equipment
referred to in section
16.11 of
this Part and any other equipment, instrument or devices used in connection
with the location, possession, storage or use of such radiation
source.
(3) During an
inspection, the department or health officer having jurisdiction may consult
privately with workers as specified in subdivision (f) of this section. The
licensee or registrant may accompany department inspectors or health officer
having jurisdiction during other phases of an inspection.
(4) If, at the time of inspection, an
individual has been authorized by the workers to represent them during
inspections, the licensee or registrant shall notify the inspectors of such
authorization and shall give the worker's representative an opportunity to
accompany the inspectors during the inspection of physical working
conditions.
(5) Each workers'
representative shall be routinely engaged in work under control of the licensee
or registrant and shall have received instructions as specified in subdivision
(c) of this section.
(6) Different
representatives of licensees or registrants and workers may accompany the
inspectors during different phases of an inspection if there is no resulting
interference with the conduct of the inspection. However, only one workers'
representative at a time may accompany the inspectors.
(7) With the approval of the licensee or
registrant and the workers' representative, an individual who is not routinely
engaged in work under control of the licensee or registrant--for example, a
consultant to the licensee or registrant or to the workers'
representative--shall be afforded the opportunity to accompany inspectors
during the inspection of physical working conditions.
(8) Notwithstanding the other provisions of
this section, inspectors are authorized to refuse to permit accompaniment by
any individual who deliberately interferes with a fair and orderly inspection.
With regard to any area containing proprietary information, the workers'
representative for that area shall be an individual previously authorized by
the licensee or registrant to enter that area.
(f) Consultation with workers during inspections.
(1) Inspectors may consult
privately with workers concerning matters of occupational radiation protection
and other matters related to applicable provisions of department regulations
and licenses to the extent the inspectors deem necessary for the conduct of an
effective and thorough inspection.
(2) During the course of an inspection any
worker may privately bring to the attention of the inspectors, either orally or
in writing, any past or present condition which he has reason to believe may
have contributed to or caused any violations of this Part, or license
condition, or an unnecessary exposure of an individual to radiation from
licensed radioactive material or registered radiation equipment under the
licensee's or registrant's control. Any such notices in writing shall comply
with the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) of this
section.
(3) The provisions of
paragraph (2) of this subdivision shall not be interpreted as authorization to
disregard instructions provided pursuant to subdivision (c) of this
section.
(g) Requests by workers for inspections.
(1) Any worker or
representative of workers who believes that a violation of this Part or of
license conditions exists, or has occurred in work under a license or
registration with regard to radiological working conditions in which the worker
is engaged, may request an inspection by giving notice of the alleged violation
to the department. Any such notice shall:
(i)
be in writing;
(ii) set forth the
specific grounds for the notice; and
(iii) be signed by the worker or
representative of the workers. A copy shall be provided to the licensee or
registrant by the department no later than at the time of inspection, except
that, upon the request of the worker giving such notice, his name and the name
of individuals referred to therein shall not appear in such copy or on any
record published, released, or made available by the department, except for
good cause shown.
(2)
If, upon receipt of such notice, the Bureau of Environmental Radiation
Protection of the department determines that the complaint meets the
requirements set forth in paragraph (1) of this subdivision and that there are
reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged violation exists or has
occurred, the bureau shall cause an inspection to be made as soon as
practicable to determine if such alleged violation exists or has occurred.
Inspection pursuant to this section need not be limited to matters referred to
in the complaint.
(3) No licensee
or registrant shall discharge, or in any manner discriminate against, any
worker because such worker has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to
be instituted any proceeding under these regulations or has testified or is
about to testify in any such proceeding, or because of the exercise by such
worker on behalf of himself or others of any option afforded by this
Part.
(h) Inspections not warranted; informal review.
(1) If the
department determines, with respect to a complaint under subdivision (g) of
this section, that an inspection is not warranted because there are no
reasonable grounds to believe that a violation exists or has occurred, the
department shall notify the complainant in writing of such determination. The
complainant may obtain an informal review of such a determination by submitting
a written statement of position with the Director, Center for Environmental
Health of the department who will provide the licensee or registrant with a
copy of such statement by certified mail, excluding, at the request of the
complainant, the name of the complainant. The licensee or registrant may submit
an opposing written statement of position with the Director, Center for
Environmental Health, who will provide the complainant with a copy of such
statement by certified mail. Upon the request of the complainant, the Director,
Center for Environmental Health may hold an informal conference in which the
complainant and the licensee or registrant may orally present their views. An
informal conference may also be held at the request of the licensee or
registrant, but disclosure of the identity of the complainant will be made only
following receipt of written authorization from the complainant. After
considering all written or oral views presented, the Director, Center for
Environmental Health shall affirm, modify or reverse the determination of the
department, and furnish the complainant and the licensee or registrant a
written notification of his decision and the reason therefor.
(2) If the Bureau of Environmental Radiation
Protection determines that an inspection is not warranted because the
requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) of this section have not been
met, it shall notify the complainant in writing of such determination. Such
determination shall be without prejudice to the filing of a new complaint
meeting the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) of this
section.
(i) Each person who possesses any radiation source shall, when necessary or desirable in order to aid in determining the extent of any individual's occupational exposure to a radiation source, comply with orders from the department directing such person to make available to such individual bioassay services or other appropriate medical evaluations and to furnish to the department and the health officer having jurisdiction a copy of the reports of such services.
[FN6] Copies of the "Notice to Employees" may be obtained from the department.
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