General rules, e.g., no
smoking, eating, drinking, storing of food, mouth pipetting of
radioactive materials, posted in each laboratory in which radioactive
materials are used.
POSTING
OF IDNS/NRC REGULATIONS
AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Posted in each laboratory in which radioactive materials are
used. Chart supplied by the regulatory agency
POSTING
OF RING/WHOLE BODY BADGE MONTHLY REPORTS
Should be posted on
bulletin board on a monthly basis. Employer is responsible for informing
each employee on an annual basis of his cumulative radiation dose.
All Nuclear Medicine personnel
involved in use of I-131 sodium iodide in quantities >1 mCi must have a
routine thyroid count performed every 6 months; in addition, 24 hours after an
iodination procedure or administration of I-131 sodium iodide in liquid form,
the thyroid must be counted.
LEAK
TESTING OF SEALED SOURCES
All sealed sources (gamma
counter calibration sources, dose calibrator standards, etc) must be leak-tested
every 6 months and results of this testing recorded in the appropriate logbook.
AREA
ROOM MONITORING LOG BOOK
On a daily basis, survey each
room in which radioisotopes are used with a GM counter
Record Model # & Serial #
of meter used
Record background reading
Record actual reading;
specify units, cpm or mR/hr
Specify "action
level" (criterion for immediate action to be taken
An accurate area map must be
drawn and, on a weekly basis, 5-7 dry wipes are taken in each room in which
radioisotopes are used.Results
of the counting procedure are correlated with the area map to identify areas
with count rates higher than normal room background.
An open energy window is used
since we don't know which isotope has been spilled. The only isotope not found
on a wipe test is Xe-133.
If
contamination is found, your obligation is to:
Document
the radioactivity level of the hot spot
Decontaminate
to background levels
Record
the new reading indicating that contamination has been removed.
PERSONNEL
MONITORING LOG BOOK
At the end of the day, each
technologist is obligated to monitor his/her hands with a Geiger counter to
detect inadvertent contamination. Results of this survey are recorded in the
appropriate logbook on a daily basis.
INCOMING
PACKAGE LOGBOOK
Every package containing radioisotopes must be logged in
appropriately. This includes recording the product name, lot number,
calibrated activity and date, received activity and date, shipper's
package number, and initials of person receiving the package.
If your license requires you to monitor every package received by
your department, results of this monitoring must be recorded in this
logbook.
HOT
SINK LOG BOOK
One sink in each laboratory may be designated as a "hot
sink". This is the only permissible location for disposing of
radioactive liquid waste. Each liquid waste disposal must be documented
by the radioisotope, amount, date, and initials of person involved.
The usual limit for hospitals is 1 Curie per year (all
radioisotopes) for all liquid waste for theentire institution.
TREADMILL
MONITORING LOGBOOK
Assuming your
institution monitors the treadmill on a daily basis (or with any other
frequency), results of these surveys must be recorded in an appropriate
logbook.
