Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 33 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part XV - Radiation Protection › Chapter 5 - Radiation Safety Requirements for Industrial Radiographic Operations › Subchapter B - Personal Radiation Safety Requirements for Radiographers › Section XV-577 - Personnel Monitoring Control

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A.
				  No licensee or registrant shall permit an individual to act as a radiographer,
				  instructor, or radiographer trainee unless, at all times during radiographic
				  operations, each such individual wears, on the trunk of the body, a
				  direct-reading pocket dosimeter, an operating alarm ratemeter, and a personnel
				  dosimeter, except that for permanent radiography facilities where other
				  appropriate alarming or warning devices are in routine use, the wearing of an
				  alarm ratemeter is not required.
B.
				  Pocket dosimeters shall have a range of zero to at least 2 millisieverts (200
				  millirems) and shall be recharged at least daily or at the start of each shift.
				  Electronic personal dosimeters may only be used in place of ion-chamber pocket
				  dosimeters. Each personnel dosimeter shall be assigned to and worn only by one
				  individual. Pocket dosimeters, or electronic personal dosimeters, shall be
				  checked for correct response to radiation at periods not to exceed one year.
				  Acceptable dosimeters shall read within ±20 percent of the true
				  radiation exposure. Records of positive dosimeter response shall be maintained
				  for three years by the licensee or registrant for department
				  inspection.
C. Film badges shall be
				  replaced at periods not to exceed one month and all other personnel dosimeters
				  that require replacement shall be replaced at least quarterly. All personnel
				  dosimeters shall be evaluated at least quarterly or promptly after replacement,
				  whichever is more frequent.
D.
				  Direct reading dosimeters, such as electronic personal dosimeters or pocket
				  dosimeters, shall be read and exposures recorded at least daily with use at the
				  beginning and end of each shift, and records shall be maintained for three
				  years or until the Office of Environmental Compliance authorizes their
				  disposition.
E. If an individual's
				  pocket dosimeter is discharged beyond its range (i.e., goes "off-scale"), or an
				  individual's electronic pocket dosimeter reads greater than 2 millisieverts
				  (200 millirems) and the possibility of radiation exposure cannot be ruled out
				  as the cause, industrial radiographic operations by that individual shall cease
				  and the individual's personnel dosimeter that requires processing shall be sent
				  for processing and evaluation within 24 hours. For personnel dosimeters that do
				  not require processing, evaluation of the dosimeter shall be started within 24
				  hours. The individual shall not return to work with sources of radiation until
				  a determination of the radiation dose has been made. This determination shall
				  be made by the RSO or the RSO's designee. The results of this determination
				  shall be recorded and maintained indefinitely or until the Office of
				  Environmental Compliance authorizes their disposition.
F. Records of the pocket dosimeter readings
				  shall be maintained for inspection by the department for three consecutive
				  years. If the dosimeter readings were used to determine external radiation
				  dose, the records shall be maintained indefinitely or until the Office of
				  Environmental Compliance authorizes their disposition.
G. If a personnel dosimeter is lost or
				  damaged, the worker shall cease work immediately until a replacement personnel
				  dosimeter is provided and the exposure is calculated for the time period from
				  issuance to loss or damage of the personnel dosimeter. The results of the
				  calculated exposure and the time period for which the personnel dosimeter was
				  lost or damaged shall be recorded and maintained indefinitely or until the
				  Office of Environmental Compliance authorizes their disposition.
H. Each alarm ratemeter shall:
1. be checked and recorded to ensure that the
				  alarm functions properly (sounds) prior to use at the start of each
				  shift;
2. be set to give an alarm
				  signal at the preset dose rate of 5 mSv/hr (500 millirems/hour);
3. require special means to change the preset
				  alarm function; and
4. be
				  calibrated at periods not to exceed one year for correct response to radiation:
				  acceptable ratemeters shall alarm within ±20 percent of the true
				  radiation dose rate. Records of calibrations shall be maintained for three
				  years.