Worker OK After Puncture Wound at Tritium Facilities; SRNS Re-examining Work Areas for Hazards
NS&D Monitor
3/6/2015
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is re-examining all radiological work areas at the Savannah River Site’s Tritium Facilities for potential hazards after an employee received a puncture wound to their hand after a glovebox slip-up. According to SRNS spokeswoman Angie French, a worker was using a slender metal stylus shaped like a dental pick to remove a degraded O-ring gasket from a metal process component when the employee’s hand slipped. French said the tool punctured the glovebox glove and inner glove worn on the employee’s hand, but bioassay results revealed that the dose the worker received was below regulatory and SRNS radiation exposure guidelines. “Further, the dose is a small fraction of the annual dose received by a member of the public from background radiation,” French said. “This dose would not result in any effect on the health or well-being of the worker.” The incident was first disclosed in a recently released Jan. 30 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board site representative report.
French said facility operations were curtailed after the incident and “efforts were commenced to fully understand the cause or causes of this injury and determine corrective actions, including any needed procedure revisions or changes to current practices to ensure management’s performance expectations were being met.” She said Tritium Facilities officials are examining the work scope, potential hazards and mitigation controls at all radiological work areas that have the potential for cuts or puncture injuries. French said a new tool and holding fixture are being evaluated to remove O-rings.
DNFSB: There Was Confusion About Proper Protective Equipment
The DNFSB said the worker was not wearing a 20 mil polyurethane-Hypalon glove over gloves on top of glovebox gloves as required when using sharp items due to confusion about whether the tools being used were considered to be sharp items. The DNFSB also noted that there was confusion about procedures because needle-nose pliers are required to remove O-rings, but it is difficult to remove the O-ring in question with the tool, leading workers to use an O-ring extractor kit that had not been evaluated by safety officials. Pre-job instructions were also vague, the DNFSB said. “Even if the worker had been wearing the puncture resistant over gloves, they might not have prevented the puncture,” the DNFSB said.
2010 Puncture Incident Left Worker Exposed to Plutonium
The incident is similar to a 2010 puncture incident at Savannah River’s F Area facilities that left one worker exposed to plutonium. “Despite extensive testing, SRNS has had difficulty finding a glove that prevents cuts and punctures, minimizes permeation of tritium and oxygen, and does not inhibit the worker’s dexterity,” the DNFSB said, noting that SRNS is looking into a program to control sharps and tools in similar fashion to what happened after the F Area puncture incident.
