1 ROLE OF EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 

1.1 Introduction \ as authorized physician users or health or medical 

physicists, to ensure that adequate resources are 

This chapter offers guidance to executive provided for the radiation safety program, 

management of a licensed medical facility on including support for the radiation safety officer executive management's role in effective (RSO) and the RSC. See Chapter 6 for further 

implementation and management of the radiation discussion on radiation safety program resources. 

safety program. For the purposes of this report, 

the term "executive management" refers to an 

individual at the senior vice-president or chief 

executive officer level who is responsible for 

oversight of the facility's radiation safety program. 

In a broad scope program, this individual could be 

a senior administrator, whereas, in a small 

licensed program, this individual could be the sole 

owner and operator. Regardless of the individual's 

title, the NRC expects executive management to 

appoint a representative who actively participates 

as a member of the radiation safety committee 

(RSC) and has the authority to delegate necessary 

resources to the radiation safety program, as 

identified by the RSC. The term "executive 

management" does not include department 

managers in radiology, nuclear medicine, 

radiation oncology, or any other department of 

the facility, regardless of department size. 

Executive management should become familiar 

with the types of radiation sources used at the 

facility, and where they are used, received, and 

stored. This is particularly important since some 

medical uses pose a higher safety risk than others 

for occupational workers, patients, and the public. 

For example, radiation therapy presents a higher 

risk than diagnostic radiology or nuclear medicine 

applications. Specifically, sealed radiation sources 

and linear accelerators for in-patient and 

out-patient radiation therapy procedures pose a 

potentially significant safety hazard because of the 

higher radiation levels associated with the use of 

these devices. In order to fully appreciate these 

medical use areas, executive management should 

consult with individuals expert in these areas, such 

1.2 The Management Riangle 

The "management triangle," a concept used 

throughout this report, comprises three elements: 

executive management, the RSO, and the RSC. 

The concept was developed for the purposes of 

this report to emphasize that there are three 

primary responsible entities for radiation safety 

program management. No one element is 

considered more important than the others; 

rather, the management triangle represents a 

team approach in which the success of the team is 

dependent upon the contribution of each element. 

Each element of the management triangle is 

discussed in a separate chapter to emphasize its 

respective role, relationship with the other 

elements, and the need for effective 

communication between elements to establish and 

maintain an effective management team 

(Chapters 1,2, and 3). Even though all elements 

are considered equally important, it should be 

noted that NRC regulations specify that executive 

management of the licensed facility has ultimate 

responsibility for the radiation safety program, 

even though executive management may depend 

heavily upon the RSO and RSC. This means that 

even though the RSC and, in particular, the RSO, 

oversee the day-to-day operations of the program, 

and are the informed bodies to which executive 

management turns for information, the license is 

issued to the institution (executive management) 

and executive management of that institution is 

held responsible for implementing the licensed 

program.