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> "..they made him wear a radioactive exposure badge and fired him when the badge tipped over the safe range." Not to defend the company in this case, but I su

> "..they made him wear a radioactive exposure badge and fired him when the badge tipped over the safe range." Not to defend the company in this case, but I suspect he reached the annual occupational dose limit [1], so unless they had office work for him there probably wasn't anything else to do. This is something migrant radiation workers [2] need to be vigilant about, to make sure they aren't out of work for a year after one job, or at least make sure that job pays them appropriately. [1] https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part020/part020-1201.html https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part020/p... [2] Commercial nuclear power plants generally shut down once every 1-2 years for a several-week maintenance and refueling outage, during which time the plant will bring in several hundred extra workers, often contractors, to help. This has created a community of highly-skilled rad workers who travel around the country.

RobertRoberts 8y ago
Sure, this seems reasonable. But this wasn't around radioactive material, it was just trash burners to make electricity. Consider the ramifications of what that means. Also, they weren't given any protective gear, so what use is a badge saying you've been over exposed if it's guaranteed everyone will eventually hit the limit?
- lacker 8y ago
  They weren't given any protective gear, so what use is a badge saying you've been over exposed if it's guaranteed everyone will eventually hit the limit? The point of the badge is to make sure that people don't get more than the limit of exposure, to keep the workers safe. I know tour guides in Mammoth Caves in Kentucky work this way - the caves are generally safe, but if you spend many many hours in them you will get more than the radiation limit. It just isn't a job you can work for 40 hours a week your whole life. They also don't wear protective gear. There isn't really effective protective gear that you can wear to protect against a constant low level of background radiation. They make lead aprons for x-ray workers but those are impractical for constant wear and don't protect from every direction anyway.
  - RobertRoberts 8y ago
    That seems reasonable. I guess the story about my friend's homeless brother's situation is just one of many where he's been taken advantage of. (ie, not given water on the job, improper tools provided, pay not be given out, etc...) So I assumed this was just another issue on top of all the others. You have to wonder though, if a cleaning job is only suitable for temps (mostly homeless people) that get persistent radiation exposure, it seems that corners are being cut. Unlike a cave, where there's nothing to be done other than stay out of it...

RobertRoberts 8y ago

Sure, this seems reasonable. But this wasn't around radioactive material, it was just trash burners to make electricity. Consider the ramifications of what that means. Also, they weren't given any protective gear, so what use is a badge saying you've been over exposed if it's guaranteed everyone will eventually hit the limit?

lacker 8y ago
They weren't given any protective gear, so what use is a badge saying you've been over exposed if it's guaranteed everyone will eventually hit the limit? The point of the badge is to make sure that people don't get more than the limit of exposure, to keep the workers safe. I know tour guides in Mammoth Caves in Kentucky work this way - the caves are generally safe, but if you spend many many hours in them you will get more than the radiation limit. It just isn't a job you can work for 40 hours a week your whole life. They also don't wear protective gear. There isn't really effective protective gear that you can wear to protect against a constant low level of background radiation. They make lead aprons for x-ray workers but those are impractical for constant wear and don't protect from every direction anyway.
- RobertRoberts 8y ago
  That seems reasonable. I guess the story about my friend's homeless brother's situation is just one of many where he's been taken advantage of. (ie, not given water on the job, improper tools provided, pay not be given out, etc...) So I assumed this was just another issue on top of all the others. You have to wonder though, if a cleaning job is only suitable for temps (mostly homeless people) that get persistent radiation exposure, it seems that corners are being cut. Unlike a cave, where there's nothing to be done other than stay out of it...