What is an RF Hazard Assessment?

An RF hazard assessment is a scientific approach to determine ambient RF levels at a given site.

Who needs an RF Hazard Assessment at an industrial site?

Any company operating heat induction units, heat sealers, RF dryers, hospitals, MRI machines, RF steel tempering, RF soldering or welding.

An RF hazard assessment at an industrial site is similar in some respects to a telecommunications site but very different in other aspects. Equipment is one of the major concerns. RF meters and probes for telecom sites usually have a frequency range from about 300 KHZ to over 50 GHZ, however at industrial sites some equipment runs at below 1KHZ so the equipment is very different. RSI has the only EFA3 (Wandel & Goltermann) in the U.S. at the time of this writing. This unit reads electric and magnetic fields down to 5 Hz. The assessment techniques are similar to those at a telecom site but the procedures are different with each site and type and manufacture of RF equipment. This is due to the widely varied uses of this equipment, the frequency ranges, and the power levels. Example: A steel soldering unit may run 7.5K W at 27 MHZ while a unit for heating pipe may run 3 MW at 290 Hz.

RSI has personnel who have dealt with these types of units for over 20 years and has one person who is still an accredited technician for these types of units.

A total of 7 megawatts of heating potential.

All RSI assessments include a site security review!

Industrial Heating Equipment Users Please Review and update!

Do you know about the New Radiation Standards for any company operating heat induction units, heat sealers, RF dryers, hospitals, MRI machines, RF steel tempering, RF soldering or welding?

OSHA requires a Radio Frequency Radiation (RFR) assessment for industrial sites that use RF heating equipment for the safety of the personnel in close proximity to these machines. Magnetic fields around some of this equipment can wipe out the memory of pacemakers or magnetize some medical implants. Items such as steel toed shoes and jewelry can be heated by this equipment. In some states this equipment is actually permitted by the state and these assessments are needed for documentation. The possibility of contact current and induced current hazards is very real at many industrial sites.

Plant Safety, HR, and engineering personnel, are to determine and set safe work policies and practices, can utilize the reports on these installations. OSHA requires training for any employee exposed to work place hazards. OSHA determined that RFR or non-ionizing radiation is a physical hazard as long ago as 1972. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued new rigorous regulations pertaining to exposure to RF became final in Sept 1, 2000. The FCC is now doing site inspections and enforcement of these rules, all RF Heating units are also controlled by the FCC, they are FCC Type accepted or approved. The new FCC standards are as much as fifty times more stringent than the old OSHA guidelines.

This means that employers with employees who may be exposed to RF above the uncontrolled levels must train those employees in hazard recognition, and hazard avoidance. This training is required in order to provide a safe work environment for your workers as well as yourself.

Your group should attend an RSI RF Safety Seminar which covers both the FCC and OSHA's policies pertaining to RF equipment. Emphasis of the seminar is with review of the new standard, possible health effects from overexposure to RF, hazard recognition, hazard avoidance, and hazard abatement techniques in connection with working at an RFR site.

RSI has personnel who have dealt with these types of units for over 20 years and who are still an accredited technician for these types of units.