10.12.6 Contractors
Contractor status is not an RF exposure category. A contractor must be classified according to the work, potential exposure, training, and supervision and may need to be treated as an RF Worker or Controlled Area Worker.
Contractors can be unfamiliar with site-specific sources and may work at facilities where several organizations control transmitters. The site owner, source operators, contractor, and Responsible Person must consult, cooperate, and coordinate.
Before work begins, the arrangements should confirm:
- the contractor's exposure category, competence, work scope, and authorized people;
- the RF sources, owners, operating states, Controlled Areas, and exclusion zones;
- the permits, outages, down-powering, isolations, verification, and handback required;
- the applicable safe work and emergency procedures;
- the communications and source-status coordination throughout the work; and
- the Responsible Person and other operational and emergency contacts.
Site induction supplements rather than replaces role-appropriate RF training, competency assessment, authorization, and supervision.
10.12.7 New OR Inexperienced Workers
New or inexperienced workers may not yet recognize how source states, access conditions, signs, boundaries, and simultaneous activities affect RF safety.
They should receive training and task instruction appropriate to their exposure category and work under effective supervision until their competence has been demonstrated.
Authorization for independent work should be based on assessed competence, not merely time served or completion of an induction.