C+S February 2020 Vol. 6 Issue 2

Photo: Daniel McClure in Phoenixville, PA

Step 6 In mitigating the safety hazards found, direct interaction between the evaluator, local safety professionals, and employees will lead to better acceptance of recommendations and actions. A final report from the evaluator should outline all findings and actions driven by the six steps given above. The bottom line of the NIR evalu- ator’s job is to deliver solutions that improve the lives of the client’s staff by providing guidance that allows the employees to perform their job in a safe environment.

in the operations manual. Older equipment may not have the latest safety notifications in place, and could be less likely to have engineer- ing controls built-in that reduce NIR emissions. Step 4 Evaluating emissions may involve a combination of activities involv- ing the gathering of information from the emitter vendor, emission calculations, and field measurements of emissions (i.e., an NIR sur- vey). Regarding 5G systems, the system owner should be able to show compliance with FCC regulations via calculations or measurements. Field measurements, when performed with high-quality, calibrated equipment, often lead to the most defensible results with respect to compliance. In addition, when measurements are performed with local safety professionals and employees present, the concerns regarding medical implant safety can be addressed in a direct and comprehensive manner. Step 5 After an evaluation, determine if there are compliance issues. If so, engineering (NIR shielding) or administrative controls (posting, label- ing, exclusion zones, awareness training) will need to be implemented.

MATTHEW H. SMITH is the manager of the NV5/Dade Moeller Training Academy, which specializes in radiation and occupational safety training. He has extensive experience in training federal and private sector professionals on radiological safety and detection topics. Contact him at matt.smith@nv5.com.

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