[ RadSafe ] Unpardonable carelessness regulatory control of Analytical x-ray units

Mon Apr 2 12:00:12 CDT 2012

Dear William Lipton,

I was told that in a particular  instance of injury to the hands of postdoctoral student, a US University and a manufacturer of an analytical x-ray unit were forced to pay an astronomical sum as compensation to the victim.

Do you have either in your collection or elsewhere the case histories of such incidents? Even when the commercially available equipment has all the built in safety features, research scholars in their anxiety to speed up the experiment modify these features leading to disastrous consequences.

Because of the built-in safety features analytical x-ray equipment is considered as an intrinsically safe radiation equipment. According to the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules 2004 analytical x-ray equipment requires a registration.

How is it controlled in the USA? What are the regulatory requirements? Do you offer any special training to research scholars and other scientists handling them? Do they require a formal accreditation to handle the equipment?

Regards
Parthasarathy

________________________________
 From: William Lipton <doctorbill34 at gmail.com>
To: Scott Davidson <bsdnuke at gmail.com> 
Cc: radsafe <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu> 
Sent: Monday, 2 April 2012, 12:16
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] radiography incident -Unpardonable carelessness

You can download it at:
http://www.msg.ucsf.edu/XRayLab/DoubleEdgedSword.html

Bill

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 6:09 AM, Scott Davidson <bsdnuke at gmail.com> wrote:

> Where can I gat a copy of the "Double Edged Sword"?
>
> On 4/1/12, William Lipton <doctorbill34 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I've used the graphic video, "The Double Edged Sword," very effectively
> to
> > motivate X-ray diffraction users to follow safety procedures.  This
> shows a
> > case study of a user who screwed up.  It ends with one of his childrenholars
> > asking when his finger will grow back!
> >
> > Bill Lipton
> > It's not about dose, it's about trust.
> >  On Apr 1, 2012 9:09 PM, "Dahlskog, Leif" <
> Leif.Dahlskog at health.wa.gov.au>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Dear Parthasarathy
> >>
> >> I agree with you about pictures of burns etc.  In our jurisdiction we
> >> require the ind. rad. assistants (trainee) to undergo a basic radiation
> >> safety exam.  I used to administer the exam some years ago.  After the
> >> exam, I'd show the examinee a dummy pigtail (source holder) as this
> >> would hopefully be the only time they'd ever see one, but if they did in
> >> future they'd recognise what it was.  I would also show them some
> >> graphic pictures of burns caused by ind. rad. accidents.  If they choose
> >> to work in this industry they must recognise the potential for serious
> >> injury and death and their responsibilities to safety for colleagues and
> >> the public.  The IAEA accident reports are very useful for this.
> >> Particularly 'The Radiological Accident in Yanango' which can be found
> >> in acrobat pdf format on the IAEA website.
> >>
> >> The U.S.N.R.C. had a video titled "Taking Control: Safe Procedure for
> >> Industrial Radiography" which although used the wrong units ( :-} -
> >> that's a smiley - ie humour intented for those challenged on a Monday
> >> morning), was about the best I'd seen covering basic safety for
> >> industrial radiographers. It was in VHS-NTSC format. I had it converted
> >> to PAL format and with USNRC's permission, distributed copies to all the
> >> industrial radiography companies in our jurisdiction.  An update of the
> >> video with Bq and Sv in DVD format would be great but I am not aware if
> >> it is even available any longer.
> >>
> >> regards
> >>
> >> Leif Dahlskog
> >> Senior Health Physicist
> >> Radiation Health Branch
> >>
> >> Grace Vaughan House, 227 Stubbs Terrace, Shenton Park WA 6009
> >> AUSTRALIA
> >>
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