RR477 - Review of the level of accuracy required and means of demonstrating that accuracy for approval of dosimetry services by the Health and Safety Executive
Under Regulation 35 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99) and Regulation 14 of the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 (REPPIR), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) approves dosimetry services to carry out a number of functions specified in those regulations. The assessment of the services is carried out according to the HSE Statement on the Approval of Dosimetry Services (and REPPIR Supplement to this), the associated published Requirements for the Approval of Dosimetry Services (RADS) Parts 1 to 3 and the Supplement (2003), and the General Guidance for Laboratories providing Personal Dosimetry Services. Parts 1 and 2 of the RADS and the supplement relate to the assessment of radiation doses received by employees (Part 3 relates to co-ordination and keeping of recorded dose information). The adequacy of a service to comply with RADS is largely determined by assessment every 5 years of the dosimetry services management, laboratory and quality assurance procedures and the performance characteristics of the dosemeter or dosimetry method used. For some (but not all) types of dosimetry, HSE requires that services undertake performance tests prior to initial application for approval and periodically thereafter, currently every 18 months. The performance tests are designed to assess the performance of the service in analysing dosemeters (or biological samples) irradiated to a known level (or containing a known level of activity).
This report considers methods of assessing the accuracy and reliability of dosimetry systems, the current HSE process of dosimetry service approval and possible improvements and alternative approaches, for both external and internal dosimetry.
This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.
The Research Report Series are produced in Adobe Acrobat. The use of the latest version of the software is recommended which is available at the Adobe website via the link on this page.
Assistance in the use of Adobe Acrobat PDF files is available on our FAQs page.