SErIES IAEA HumAn HEAltH SErIES IAEA Hum

5.1.2.2. Occupational and public exposures
Hazardous areas must be appropriately classified and identified.
Members of staff who are occupationally exposed to radiation must be
identified and monitored with personal monitoring devices as specified by local
laws and international standards. Records of the results of such monitoring must
be kept and made available to the relevant staff.
Protective devices must be available and worn by staff as appropriate.
Policies must be in place for providing radiation counselling, additional
shielding and radiation monitoring (as appropriate for the exposure environment)
for staff who declare that they are pregnant. If possible, temporary rotation of
pregnant staff to environments with no exposure or a lower exposure should be
considered.
Visitors must be provided with adequate radiation protection as appropriate.
All X ray equipment, including mobile equipment, must be utilized in
rooms with adequate shielding as specified by local laws and following the
widely accepted recommendations of national and professional bodies [30, 31].
Calculations must be done for appropriate shielding and then verified by
measurements. Changes in functional design or patient workload must be
regularly monitored to ensure protection of all staff and members of the public.
Emergency contingency plans must be available for the protection of staff
and the public.
5.1.3. Quality assurance processes for imaging equipment
5.1.3.1. Selection of equipment
The first step in good QC of equipment is the selection of high quality
equipment appropriate for the required clinical imaging procedure.
Selection of equipment should be undertaken by a team of senior staff,
including a specialist radiological medical practitioner, a senior radiographer and
a medical physicist. This process will usually involve the drafting of equipment
specifications, a tender process and evaluation of the resulting tenders.
Fundamental considerations for equipment specifications should include:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Site requirements and room design;
Radiation shielding (or magnetic and radiofrequency shielding for MRI
units);
Technical specifications for equipment performance;
Image quality requirements;
Patient dose implications;
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