Jeff Thrasher

Why I Built This Class

As a Radiation Safety Officer, I tested countless employees who had either taken a 40-hour online radiation safety class or spent an entire semester at a community college course. You know what they all had in common? They failed the entry-level test to hire on as a radiographer. I’d end up spending a whole day reteaching them—showing them how to do the math in a way that actually made sense, and how to remember calibration dates without overcomplicating it. Honestly, it’s embarrassing. These people were paying serious money for training that gave them little to no real-world value. That’s why I built this course: so new NDT hires don’t walk in clueless. I want Radiation Safety Officers to feel confident from day one, knowing they don’t have to worry about who that new radiographer gets paired with. I want them to feel the same way I did when I saw a new hire had taken Laurie McGowen’s class—immediately expecting more from that person because their training had weight behind it.

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Why I Teach Differently

Believe it or not, the reason I started teaching 40-hour radiation safety goes back to my time as a speed bag coach (yeah, like Rocky—one, two, three). I discovered a faster way to get beginners good—not by inventing new tricks, but by rearranging the order of the basics. It just made more sense mathematically. I’m applying that same principle here. I’ve rearranged the order of how radiation safety is taught. We start with ethics right out of the gate—because that’s not emphasized nearly enough. Then we dive straight into hands-on training: dummy cameras from QSA, paperwork practice, real-world scenarios, and plenty of math. When I first came out of my own 40-hour radiation safety class, I didn’t know much beyond one thing: be scared of the source. “JUST DON’T TOUCH IT”—that was the big takeaway. But I didn’t actually learn what my job was going to be. Instead, I got a heavy dose of radiation history and physics that didn’t help me stay safer in the field. Don’t get me wrong—I respect the brilliance of the pioneers who built this technology. They were incredibly smart. But you don’t need to know all the history to keep yourself and everyone else safe. What you do need is respect for the source and the skills to work safely around it.

Real-World Lessons

We will study history, but not just from textbooks. We’ll look at actual incidents: like the helper who left a camera on the back of a truck and unknowingly dropped it in the middle of the road. Mistakes like that are real, and they’re preventable. I’ve been in this industry for 13 years, working with some of the top companies. I’ve seen incredible radiography work. I’ve also worked alongside some of the toughest men I’ve ever known—guys who would cover your welds in the worst mud hole just so you wouldn’t ruin your boots. But I’ve also seen the other side—the bad, the careless, the downright dangerous. As a helper, a tech, a division manager, and a regional RSO, I’ve seen this job from every angle. And here’s one thing I know for certain: every single radiation incident I was ever part of investigating was 100% preventable. Nobody meant harm. They just screwed up—because they saw someone else cut corners and get away with it, or they had done it themselves in the past without consequence. I’ll be the first to admit I pulled my share of stupid stunts when I was green. Luckily, I got away without getting bit by the rattlesnake. That’s what this job is—you’re handling a rattlesnake every day. The second you stop respecting it, it’ll strike. I learned my lessons the hard way and survived to talk about them. Now, I teach those lessons so my students don’t repeat them.