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

Mon Apr 2 13:58:03 CDT 2012

Ah Bill - So YOU are the one I have to thank for the area monitor design 
presented at an HPS meeting that we employed after the 1977 x-ray 
accident and got Health Physics Instruments to make as a standard line item.

BTW - in that same time frame we designed our own improved failsafe 
warning light (could be easily seen and read at any background lighting 
and did NOT cast light on the experiment thus NOT tempting researchers 
to cover it over) and found an article detailing a mechanically 
interlocked shutter and used that too in our retrofits.

Thanks for a great instrument!

The accident he is referring to was at LBNL on April 7, 1977, a 
University of California, Berkeley Lab, and was written up in a lengthy 
DOE/SAN report (I do not have a copy).  There was also an article in the 
journal by Alesandro Rindi about the dosimetry we did for our investigation.

On 4/2/2012 10:20 AM, William Lipton wrote:
> I am retired, and have not worked with x-ray diffraction units in more than
> 30 years, so I am not up to date on this.  I worked with these units at
> Argonne National Laboratory, from 1975 - 1981.  At that time, the new
> machine safety standards had just been implemented.  Since they did not
> apply to existing machines, virtually all of our machines had no safety
> features.  Some basic safety devices were retrofitted:  (1)fail safe
> "x-rays on" lightx, and (2) backscatter radiation monitors which would
> alarm if a beam port were opened without a camera in place.  We also tried
> a "Supper Shutter" (named after the developer) which used magnets on the
> camera and the beam port.  The shutter could not be opened if the magnets
> were not aligned.  These were sometimes bypassed by the researchers by
> placing another magnet near the beam port.  Fortunately, we had no
> incidents involving these machines while I was there.
>
> I do not have any case history documentation.
>
> In the US, the design of these devices is regulated by the Food and Drug
> Administration, while their use is regulatred by the individual states.
>
> Bill
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 1:00 PM, parthasarathy k s<ksparth at yahoo.co.uk>wrote:
>
>> 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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