I. Introduction

For a number of years a Radioisotope Committee on the N. C. State College Campus
has borne the responsibility of reviewing and approving the applications of
staff members for radioactive isotopes issued by the A. E. C. and of insuring
that accepted practices of safety were exercised in the use of these isotopes.
In September, 1954, the Chancellor of the College revised the membership of
the Committee, enlarged the area of its jurisdiction and increased the scope of
responsibilities.

The Committee is now designated the Safety and Health Committee of the College.
It is the purposes of this memorandum to describe the responsibilities which
have been laid on the Committee and to outline the procedures by which it will
attempt to discharge these responsibilities.

II. Responsibilities

In establishing the new Safety and Health Committee, the Chancellor assigned
one central responsibility and essential function, and two or three lesser
functions of related type. The primary function:

• A. To require in all procedures, uses and disposals of all radioactive
  materials and sources of ionizing radiations on the campus, that suffic-
  ient attention be paid to safety and precautionary measures to insure the
  protection of all personnel, both of the college and of the public.

• B. To protect the interests of the College with respect to public reaction
  and goodwill in matters involving radiation and radioactive materials.
• C. To promote, by advice and counsel where requested, the use and applica-
  tion of radioactive materials and sources of radiation on the campus.

This memorandum is concerned below with the procedures by which the central
function of the Committee is to be fulfilled. The corollary functions in part
will also be performed if the central objective is successfully achieved, and
in part will be realized through attention to individual cases as they arise.

III. General Regulations and Criteria

To insure that adequate safety measures are incorporated in the handling,
utilization and disposal of all radioactive materials and sources of radiation
on the campus, the Safety and Health Committee will proceed on the basis of
the following regulations and criteria:

A. All sources of ionizing radiation, all equipment capable of producing
ionizing radiations and all radioactive materials on the campus must be known
to the Committee and all proposed uses of such equipment and materials must
be known to and approved by the Committee in advance of such usage.

To effect this regulation, the Committee will proceed along two lines;

• 1. A catalogue of all radiation equipment and radioactive materials now on
  the campus will be drawn up at once and the usage thereof be subjected
  to inspection.
• 2. Approval must be obtained from the Committee before any new radioactive
  materials or radiation equipment are purchased for use on the campus.

The procedures and mechanics of such approval and procurement are described
in later sections of this memorandum. For convenience and facility in follow-
ing these procedures, different types and classes of radioactive materials and
radiation equipment are described and the regulations pertaining to each one
are outlined.

B. Approval or disapproval of any proposed usage of radioactive material or
radiation equipment will be based in major part on the adequacy of safety
measures to be exercised, in minor part on the consideration of public ralations,
and these two criteria alone will be employed. The Committee will exercise no
judgment as to the scientific merit or soundness of the proposed usage.

Three principal factors will be considered by the Committee in evaluating
the adequacy of the safety risks in a proposed usages:

• 1. The experience end ability of the applicants to cope with the hazards
  involved in the particular application.

• 2. The adequacy of the facilities and equipment for the proposed usage.
• 3. The thoroughness and attention given to safety precautions in the pro-
  posed experimental manipulations and disposal procedures.

C. The Committee will establish and publish (part IV of this memorandum) a
compendium of basic safety regulations, maximum routine radiation tolerance
levels and commonly accepted precautionary measures to serve as the guide to
safe operations in handling radioactive materials on the campus, and it will,
require adherence to these general standards. In addition, the Committee will
specify further regulations to be observed for certain types of operations and
for particular projects.

To assist operating personnel in observing this safety precautions and to
satisfy itself that adequate measures of safety are being practiced, the
Committee will employ a Radiological Safety Officer (R.S.O.) to serve in
liasion capacity between the Committee and the individual projects on the
campus. The R.S.O., who in effect is the executive agent of the Committee,
will have as his primary assignments these responsibilities:

• 1. To assist and advise campus personnel reponsible for radioactivity or
  radiation projects on matters of radiological safety.
• 2. To require adherence to safety standards and regulations established by
  the Committee.
• 3. To maintain periodic contacts with particular projects, as specified by
  the Committee, and furnish information and reports to the Committee on
  the adequacy of the regulations established, on the adherence to those
  regulations observed, and bring to the Committee's notice matters of
  safety requiring attention.

D. Where grossly unsafe practices involving use of radioactivity and
radiations, or where practices in violation of established regulations are
observed, the R.S.O. has the authority to require cessation of the project until
a review can be made by the Committee. If the Committee at any time is not
satisfied with the adequacy of safety practices employed in a project, it may
require cessation of the project until satisfactory procedures have been adopted.

IV. Considerations of Responsibility

The Committee on Health and Safety was charged by the Cancellor with the
responsibility to insure that adequate safety measures would be employed in any
project on the campus involving use of radioactivity. In a sense, the Committee
cannot discharge this responsiblity, for in the final analysis, the ultimate
responsibility for safety must rest with the project leaders and the experi-
mental participants.

What the Committee can do, and what it will endeavor to do is to establish
basic standards and safety regulations, adopt measures to require adequate
experience of personnel bearing project responsibility and adequate equipment
and facilities, maintain a system of inventory and inspection designed to assist
in elimination of unsafe practices, and above all, by encouragement, education
and constant emphasis on attention to safety, endeavor to instill in campus
personnel a conscious, coordinated and consistent attention to matters of safety
in all procedures involving use of radioactivity. Beyond this point, in ways
an endless volume of rules would be inadequate to specify, the final responsi-
bility for safety must rest on the project leaders and on each individual who
handles radioactivity and radioactive materials.