Management perceptions of the Health Physics Technician job

In 1984, an industry-wide job analysis of nuclear power reactor Health Physics Technicians (HPTs) was completed. These results provided the basis for job descriptions, industry-wide task listings and recommendations for task selections for further analysis and formal training. A total of 389 tasks were identified and reviewed by 850 HPTs representing 39 plants and 6 vendor companies. Constructive criticism of the HPT job analysis focused on the fact that HPT supervisors and managers were not included in the survey. Concerns were addressed that these supervisors/managers might have a divergent perception of the HPT job that could lead to different conclusions than those that were originally drawn. The only way to confirm (or deny) this hypothesis was to verify the results of the job analysis of HPTs by also surveying radiation protection management personnel. A total of 19 HPT supervisors/managers completed the same survey that had been used for HPT job incumbents. They were asked to rate each task on the basis of their job incumbents' performance of the task. Of the 1161 ratings (389 tasks each with a rating for frequency, difficulty, and importance), only 37 of the ratings differed between the HPTs and the HPT supervisors/managers (at the 99% confidence level)