| The HFW89W01 working data file set, prepared by the Epidemiology and Biometry Department (EBD) of PNNL for mortality studies of operations workers initially employed at the Hanford Facility between 1944 and 1978, consists of seven working files: three files of demographic, dosimetry, and mortality data; and four additional files for workers in the study population but excluded from study analyses. |
| Data were obtained in various formats and media from the facilities where the workers were employed and from several other agencies, including the HEHF and the Social Security Administration. The files in HFW89W01 originated as part of the EBD database of information supporting their mortality studies of operations workers at Hanford, several of which were completed in 1992. |
| JOB89, DOS89 and INT89 were prepared for studies of 1944 to 1989 operations workers. The three ADD89 files are for 125 operations workers excluded from the study due to questions regarding their mortality ascertainment. MORT93 includes operations and construction workers dying in the years 1944 to 1993. |
| 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. |
| HFW89W01_d1 (JOB89) is an edited working file of job histories, including demographic data, for the years 1944 to 1988. Occupational health history data for operations workers were received from HEHF in 1988. Social class was assigned by HRAD using Bureau of Census job codes modified to correct inconsistencies between recorded job descriptions and assigned codes. These modifications did not correct all inconsistencies, but they did correct those that occurred frequently. They also corrected those that were important for use in assigning social class and designating 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. HFW89W01_d1 (JOB89) contains a total of 94,176 records for the 44,408 workers that had job histories. |
| HFW89W01_d2 (DOS89) is an edited working file of external dosimetry data, including demographic data, for the years 1944 to 1989. Occupational radiation exposure data for operations workers and construction workers, including off-site exposures, were received from HPD of PNL in 1990. The HPD is responsible for radiological protection and monitoring services for the entire Hanford Site. Data for construction workers were excluded by HRAD. However, doses received by operations workers while performing construction work were retained. For each worker, whole-body dose was calculated for each year using on-site dose estimates. Comparisons were made with the master data file created in 1979 and the occupational health history data received from HEHF in 1988. Discrepancies were resolved by HPD. HFW89W01_d2 (DOS89) has a total of 429,794 records for the 45,495 workers that were monitored. |
| HFW89W01_d3 (INT89) is an edited working file of internal deposition data for the years 1944 to 1989. Data on workers with confirmed internal depositions of plutonium or other radionuclides were received from HPD in 1991. These data were edited by HRAD for missing information and for workers with multiple entries. Additions and corrections were determined by HPD. Comparisons were made with the master data file created in 1979 and the key file containing identifying information for workers in the study population. Discrepancies were noted, and they were resolved by HPD. HFW89W01_d3 (INT89) has one record for each of the 560 workers with depositions. |
| ADD89 consists of three edited working files: HFW89W01_d4 (ADD89_1), HFW89W01_d5 (ADD89_2), and HFW89W01_d6 (ADD89_3). Using the International Agency For Research on Cancer (IARC) protocol, these files were constructed in the same manner as IARC89_1, IARC89_2, and IARC89_3 (see HFI89A01 analytic data file set description). The 125 workers in these files were judged to be members of the study population, but they were not included in analyses of this population because there are questions about the adequacy of their mortality ascertainment. These questions involve primarily multiple social security numbers for the same worker or a worker's absence on the 1988 Occupational Health History files that serve as the basis for mortality follow-up. The study population is defined as individuals employed as operations workers prior to 1979, excluding the workers on ADD89 (HFI89A01 includes only members of this study population). |
| The fourth working file, HFW89W01_d4 (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 to 1978. |
| The fifth working file, HFW89W01_d5 (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 to 1978. |
| The sixth working file, HFW89W01_d6 (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 to 1978. |
| More detailed information about EBD's preparation of these working files can be found in the PNL report, PNL-8449. |
| HFW89W01_d7 (MORT93), the seventh working file, consists of coded and edited mortality data for former Hanford operations and construction workers identified as dying in the years 1944 to 1993. This file was prepared by HEHF in 1993 and requested by HRAD in January 1995. Data discrepancies were identified by HRAD and resolved by HEHF. HFW89W01_d7 (MORT93) has one record for each of the 14,236 deceased workers (666 additional workers have been identified as dying in these years; however, cause-of-death data are not currently available for these individuals). |
