Interview Interview with a Radiation Safety Officer.

ORS Interview with John Kwasniewski Give us a little information about your background, such as place of birth, schools you attended, your family, any hobbies you may have, etc. I WAS born in Anchorage, Alaska, and lived on military bases until age ten. My father retired to Tennessee, where I grew up. I went to Western Kentucky University (WKU) and graduated in 1993 with a BS in physics. While at WKU, I entered the Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) program, so after graduation I entered the Navy. I finished the Nuclear Power pipeline and was assigned to the USS Portsmouth (SSN 707). I completed two Western Pacific Deployments during my time in the Navy and was fortunate to visit many ports of call such as Hong Kong (both before the turn over to China and after), Singapore, Dubai (before it got popular), Bahrain, Guam, and Japan (three times). After the Navy I was employed as a mechanical engineer with Cummins Inc. After three years of that I was selected for The Home Depot’s Store Leadership Program. Three years and countless weekend and holiday hours later, I took the position of Senior Safety Officer in the Radiation Safety Section at Vanderbilt University. While working there I also received certification from ABHP (2008) and finished a Masters degree in Diagnostic Medical The author declares no conflicts of interest.

Physics (2010). I left Vandy in 2010 to take my current position as RSO at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida. I am married with 3 children (ages 14, 12, 6). They keep me very busy, but in my spare time I work on the ABHP Part 2 Exam Panel (I am the 2014 Chair). I love Halloween, so I also like to work in my garage on haunting props (see pictures of John Kwasniewski’s family and decorated house in Figs. 1 and 2).

What is the size and scope of your Radiation Safety Program?

How did you get involved in the field of radiation safety?

Tell us what you enjoy the most about your current position.

A fellow WKU Graduate was the RSO at Vanderbilt and heard I was looking for a new job. He offered me the position based on my degree and time in the Navy. It was a 9 to 5 job and looked like a fun challenge. Once I started I was hooked.

I really enjoy the autonomy and the chance to help serve our honored veterans. Being one myself, I have a special reverence for what some of these people have done and sacrificed. It makes all my problems seem very small each time I walk down the hall and see one of our vets working hard to recovery from their injuries.

How did you get to the position you currently hold? I applied through USA JOBS and after a grueling phone interview (ever do decay calculations and laser OD calculations on the fly while driving down the road in the rain on a cell phone?) and a day of in-person interviews I was chosen. The previous RSO stayed on for 3 months of overlap (he had been here for 30+ years), which was a huge blessing. I can’t thank him enough for such a wonderful program he turned over to me.

This column called “RSO Interview” presents series of questions and answers in which experienced radiation safety officers provide ORS readers with information about their backgrounds, philosophies, insights and secrets of their success. If you are an established radiation safety officer and would like to participate in this column, please contact our interviewer, René Michel. René is the RSO for the VA San Diego Health Care System (VASDHS) and an Associate Editor for ORS. His email address is [email protected].

Operational Radiation Safety

It is a one person show as most VA jobs are. We have some research, a fully operational Nuclear Medicine Department (25–30 patients/day, 10–20 therapies a year), all flavors of Diagnostic Imaging (which is becoming an ever increasing part of my job), and Radiation Oncology with 3 LINACS and plans to install CYBER-KNIFE in the near future.

Do you have any advice for new, inexperienced radiation safety professionals (RSO types)? Take every opportunity to increase your base of knowledge, get trained whenever possible. When dealing with people, and you do not know the answer, do not pretend to know or “blow smoke,” be honest with them and tell them that you do not know but will find out the answer for them. Then find out and get back to them quickly. You will gain credibility and respect. Tell us about any challenging problems you faced in Radiation Safety and how you solved them. It is pretty much a universal problem with any program of any size, to

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R. Michel

RSO Interview

generator that a freshman had built in his parent’s basement during high school. The device actually worked and would fuse deuterium, spitting out neutrons. After much testing we characterized the spectrum, and determined the dose rate to be too low to be of concern, as the device was not very efficient at making neutrons. Needless to say, we began to ask “what’s new?” to a lot more people. What is your approach when dealing with your customers (PIs, radiation workers, etc.)? I try to take a service attitude with every person with whom I come into contact. I try to help them make it easy to comply with regulations and then give them credit for doing so. I also try to give them a say in how compliance will be achieved, that way I gain immediate buy in from them.

FIG. 1. A picture of the Kwasniewski Family getting ready to head out for trick-or-treating. John is the tall creature second from the right.

get dosimeters worn and returned on time. Upon starting my current position, my predecessor indicated that getting badges back was difficult at best. To correct this, I put badge representatives in place in each area badges were used. I also began reporting return rates at the monthly service chiefs meeting. It was amazing how being called out in public in front of their boss and peers resulted in increased interest in dosimeters by several service chiefs. Return rates climbed quickly and have maintained a return rate above 90% for several years now.

when someone he was speaking to asked if he was going to look at the “new x-ray device” in Physics. We knew nothing of this prior to this conversation. Upon closer inspection, the “x-ray device” turned out to be a homemade neutron

What kind of relationships you like to build with regulators? Do you have any advice on how to deal with them in general? As a VA RSO I am under the jurisdiction of two sets of “regulators”—the VA’s National Health Physics Program (NHPP) and the NRC. So far the relationship with each has been excellent. I consider them to be a resource for knowledge and help. I have been open and honest with them (having selfreported a couple of issues to them)

Do you have an interesting anecdote in radiation safety that you would like to share with us? It is important to maintain good relations with everyone when working at a large facility. You need them to be your eyes and ears. While working at Vanderbilt, one of our technicians was out collecting meters for calibration S52

FIG. 2. The Kwasniewski residence nicely decorated for Halloween. www.health-physics.com

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May 2015

The Radiation Safety Journal

and haven’t seen any unwanted repercussions from that. When they call on my facility I welcome them as another set of eyes. If I am not doing something correctly, I want to know about it so I can give the best service possible to our customers.

Operational Radiation Safety

Vol. 108, suppl 2 May 2015

Which radiation safety professionals have you worked with who have been inspirational in your career? I have been very fortunate to work with some exceptional health physicists. At Vanderbilt I worked with Mike Stabin. He definitely taught me a lot,

but also that it is just as important to have fun. I also worked with David Burkett and Andy Miller. Both were my boss, at different times, and gave me a lot of instruction in shielding and how to run a Radiation Safety Program. Pretty much all I know I owe to these three individuals.

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ORS interview with John Kwasniewski.

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