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

Mon Apr 2 14:28:36 CDT 2012

Credit where credit is due!  MacLouis Robinet is the HP who designed these
monitors.

Bill
 On Apr 2, 2012 2:59 PM, "Ted de Castro" <tdc at xrayted.com> wrote:

> 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 <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<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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