Radiation Protection In Veterinary Medicine - Recommended Safety Procedures For Installation And Use Of Veterinary X-ray Equipment - Safety Code 28

3. Responsibility and Personnel

3.1 Responsibility

The owner is ultimately responsible for the radiation safety of a veterinary X-ray facility. It is the responsibility of the owner to ensure that the X-ray equipment provided for the responsible user and operators, and the facility in which such equipment is installed and used meet all applicable radiation safety standards.

The owner may delegate this responsibility to staff. How this responsibility is delegated will depend upon the number of staff members and on the amount of X-ray equipment owned. In any event, one or more persons must be designated to carry out the roles described below.

3.2 Responsible User

There must be at least one person designated as the responsible user (veterinarian, animal health technologist, registered radiology technician) to undertake responsibility for:

1. ensuring that the equipment is maintained properly and functions correctly and that maintenance is performed by competent personnel;
2. ensuring that the equipment is used correctly and only by competent personnel;
3. establishing safe operating procedures for the equipment and ensuring that operating staff are adequately instructed in them;
4. prescribing rules of radiation safety and ensuring that staff are made aware of them;
5. ensuring that radiation levels outside controlled areas are below the permissible limits of Appendix I;
6. ensuring that the facility complies with all applicable regulatory requirements;
7. establishing safe working conditions according to the recommendations of this safety code and the statutory requirements of federal or provincial legislation where applicable;
8. carrying out routine checks of equipment and facility safety features;
9. keeping records of radiation surveys, including summaries of corrective measures recommended or instituted;
10. declaring which personnel are occupationally exposed persons: these persons are either routinely participating in radiological procedures or are likely to receive a radiation dose in excess of 1/20th of the permissible dose equivalent limits specified in Appendix I;
11. organizing participation, where necessary, in a personnel radiation monitoring service such as that provided by the Bureau of Radiation and Medical Devices, Department of National Health and Welfare, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1C1;
12. ensuring that all occupationally exposed persons wear personal dosimeters during radiological procedures or when occupational exposures are likely;
13. keeping records of occupational exposures received by personnel;
14. investigating each known or suspected case of excessive or abnormal occupational exposure to determine the cause and to take remedial steps to prevent its recurrence;
15. ensuring that all safety devices recommended by this code are in good condition;
16. ensuring that appropriate warning signs are properly located, and
17. ensuring that operators understand the contents of this code.

3.3 X-Ray Equipment Operators

All operators must:

1. be aware of the contents of this safety code;
2. be aware of the radiation hazards associated with their work and of their duty to protect themselves and others, and
3. have a thorough understanding of their professions, of safe working methods and of special techniques.

A female operator should be encouraged to notify her employer if she believes herself pregnant. Appropriate steps may then be taken to ensure that her work duties during the remainder of the pregnancy are compatible with the permissible dose equivalent limits, as set out in Appendix I.

3.4 Students or Operators-in-Training

All students, operators-in-training and personnel not experienced in the use of X-ray equipment must work only under the direct supervision of a qualified operator. Dose equivalent limits for students and operators-in-training should not be greater than the limits set for members of the public.