La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § XV-577

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section XV-577 - Personnel Monitoring Control

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.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § XV-577

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Nuclear Energy Division, LR 13:569 (October 1987), amended by the Office of Air Quality and Radiation Protection, Radiation Protection Division, LR 20:653 (June 1994), amended by the Office of Environmental Assessment, Environmental Planning Division, LR 26:2583 (November 2000), LR 27:1235 (August 2001), LR 28:1951 (September 2002), LR 29:35 (January 2003), LR 29:1470 (August 2003), amended by the Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs Division, LR 31:2531 (October 2005), LR 33:2184 (October 2007), Amended by the Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs Division, LR 4961 (1/1/2023).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2001 et seq. and 2104.B.