Emergency Response

Radioactive Spill Response

Radioactive Spill Clean-Up

  • All spills must be cleaned up as quickly as possible.
  • Minor spills involving only a few microcuries of material where the radionuclide does not become airborne and emergencies where there is no personal injury can be handled by lab personnel utilizing the spill kit provided to each lab by Radiation Safety.
  • All spills must be reported to the Radiation Safety Program at 414-430-7507.
  • The authorized user is responsible for providing personnel to clean-up any contamination which results from work conducted under his/her authorization.
  • Custodial personnel shall not be asked to clean-up any contamination.
  • Radiation safety personnel will monitor and supervise the clean-up of all major spills and accidents.

Radiation Safety: Campus Emergency Phone Numbers

In case of a potential or actual radiation hazard, immediately call one of the following individuals for hazard evaluation, additional emergency procedures and corrective action information:

  • Kim Axtman, Radiation Safety Program
    • Office: 414-430-7507
    • Home: 414-335-9786
  • Melody Harries, Director, University Safety and Assurances
    • Cell: 262-442-4429
  • Zack Steuerwald, Director, University Safety and Assurances
    • Cell: 414-430-1474

Emergency Numbers:

UWM Police Emergency Dial 9-911 from any hard-wired campus phone
UWM Police Emergency Dial 414-229-9911 from a cellphone
UWM Police Non-Emergency Dial x4627 from any hard-wired campus phone
Dial 414-229-4627 from a cellphone

Accidents

Accidents Involving Airborne Radioactivitypdf format, Adobe Acrobat Required

Response Actions to Radioactive Release – Article by Allan Brodsky, National Health Physics Society

For additional information contact the Radiation Safety Program at 414-430-7507.