Are you ever concerned about taking X-ray images working with X-ray units?
Personal dosimetry badges are a way to help provide reassurance and peace of mind ‘knowing’ what radiation dose you have been exposed to in your everyday working environment. They are called personal dose badges because a badge is issued to an individual and should never be shared or worn by more than one person, otherwise how would you know who got the dose, if one was recorded?
Personal dose badges must be issued from an Approved Dosimetry Service (ADS) there are a few providers in the UK. There are a variety of types of dosimetry, from extremity rings, fingertips and eye dosimetry (under IRR17 the eye dose limit and classification has been reduced). These types of dosimetry are ‘issued’ to an individual, worn for a period of time and then sent back to the ADS for reading, and a report is then sent to you, this is what we call a retrospective assessment of radiation dose.
Whole-body dose badges (worn on the torso) are the most commonly issued form of dose badge in practice, this type can be issued as previously described (for retrospective dose assessment) alternatively the innovative progression in this field has seen the introduction of a range of dose badges that allow you to have real time access to your dose readings by means of Bluetooth Technology.
The Mirion’s instadose+ are worn like any whole-body dose badge, that is to say on the torso area of the body and are personally issued to you for an indefinite period of time. The badges are set up to automatically upload each month or if you think that you may have received a dose, then you can perform manual uploads. With online access, the wearer can access both historical and current dose measurements and reports allowing you to pinpoint dose exposures within a 24hr window. This allows the wearer to look at the work that they were performing that day and be aware of how to improve future radiation protection.
This type of instadose+ badge also allows one badge to potentially be used by multiple individuals providing the dose data has been downloaded and the badge appropriately allocated between issues. It provides a realistic way to monitor and assess dose to individuals involved in X-ray techniques that might otherwise be forgotten by yourselves but who are not forgotten by the regulative authority (the Health & Safety Executive), namely vet students, locums, and for off site imaging, yard staff and even owners asked to restrain or hold their horses during imaging techniques. The latter fall into a category of ‘General Public’ and also have dose limits.
Contact your RPA for more advice about the provision of dosimetry or contact us for more details regarding Mirion’s instadose+
