This working data set was generated by the Epidemiology and Biometry Department (EBD) of Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for mortality studies of workers initially employed at the Hanford Facility between 1944 and 1978. Data were obtained in various formats and media from the facilities where the workers were employed and from several other agencies, including the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation (HEHF) and the Social Security Administration. The files in HFW89W01 originated as part of EBD's data base of information supporting their mortality studies, several of which were completed in 1992, of operations workers at Hanford.
The first three files in the HFW89W01 working data set are roughly segregated by the following types of data: demographic, external radiation dosimetry, and internal monitoring results. Data pertaining to an individual that appear in one or more files may be linked together by use of the individual pseudo-identifier number that was assigned to each worker. To help ensure data integrity, similar data from various sources and files, such as those in the HFC78A01, were compared for inconsistencies. Discrepancies were resolved with assistance from the appropriate department or organization.
The first working file (JOB89) consists primarily of demographic data that were provided to EBD by HEHF in 1988. JOB89 includes employment and job histories, social class data, and vital status data for the years 1944 through 1978 for operations workers at Hanford. Social class was assigned by EBD using Bureau of Census job codes that were modified to correct inconsistencies between recorded job descriptions and assigned codes. These modifications corrected the most frequent inconsistencies. The modifications also corrected descriptions and codes that were important for use by EBD in assigning social class and for defining special categories of nuclear workers. Sequential entries for periods of continuous employment in which the social class code did not change were combined. Sequential entries were also combined if the time interval between the termination code and the next code was less than 1 month. JOB89 contains a total of 94,176 records for the 44,408 workers that have job histories.
The second working file (DOS89) contains external dosimetry data for the years 1944 through 1989. Occupational radiation exposure data, including occupational exposures received offsite for operations workers and construction workers, were provided by the PNL Health Physics Department (HPD) in 1990. The HPD is responsible for radiological protection and monitoring services for the entire Hanford Site. The EBD excluded exposure data for individuals solely employed as construction workers; however, doses received by operations workers while performing construction work were retained. Annual whole- body doses for each worker were compiled from dose estimates generated during onsite monitoring for radiation by PNL. DOS89 has a total of 429,795 records for the 45, 499 workers that were monitored.
The third working file (INT89) contains internal monitoring results for the years 1944 through 1989. Data on workers with confirmed internal depositions of various radionuclides, including plutonium, were provided by PNL's HPD in 1991. This file contains one record for each of the 560 workers with internal depositions.
The fourth working file (add89_1), the first additional file, contains demographic, internal dosimetry and mortality data for workers in the Hanford study population excluded from study analyses due to questions regarding the adequacy of their mortality ascertainment. This file, constructed using the IARC protocol, contains one record for each of 125 individuals initially employed at Hanford, by DOE contractors, as operations workers in the years 1944- 1978.
The fifth working file (add89_2), the second additional file, contains external dosimetry data for workers in the Hanford study population excluded from study analyses due to questions regarding the adequacy of their mortality ascertainment. There are one or more records in this file for each of 107 individuals initially employed at Hanford, by DOE contractors, as operations workers in the years 1944-1978.
The sixth working file (add89_3), the third additional file, contains additional variables, not specified in the IARC protocol, for workers in the Hanford study population excluded from study analyses due to questions regarding the adequacy of their mortality ascertainment. There is one record in this file for each of 125 individuals initially employed at Hanford, by DOE contractors, as operations workers in the years 1944-1978.
More detailed information about EBD's preparation of these working files can be found in the PNL report, PNL-8449.