Etiology of contaminated wounds

The US Department of Energy reports of events that occurred in the chemical processing 200 Areas of the Hanford Site during the period from 1972 through 1986 were reviewed to identify the causes of contaminated wounds. Contaminated wounds were reported in 19 events involving 20 workers. The causal agents (high risk operations) and the root causes were characterized. Emergency actions taken and their efficacy were noted. The 19 wound events were compared with 17 events with the potential for inhalation. It was found that the wound events involve a single worker and frequently result in an internal contamination and its resulting dose. Inhalation events involve groups of workers and rarely resulted in detectable internal contamination. The difference is attributed to anticipation of an inhalation event and use of respiratory protection and continuous air monitors to mitigate its effects