Basic Standards on Radiation Protection and

Safety Governing the Authorization for the

Introduction and Conduct of Practices
Involving X-Ray Sources in the Philippines

Kristopher Q. Limbo
Health Physicist II
BHDT, Department of Health
Sta. Cruz, Manila
 Rationale
 Scope/Limitation
 Guidelines

◦ Requirements for Practices

◦ Management Requirements
◦ Technical Requirements
◦ Verification of Safety
 Roles and Responsibilities
 Department Circular No. 323 s. 2004

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 To establish the basic requirements for
protection against the risks associated with
the exposure to x-ray radiation and for the
safety of the x-ray devices that may deliver
such exposure
 Based on the International Basic Safety

Standards for Protection against Ionizing

Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation
Sources (IBSS) – IAEA Safety Series No. 115
report

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 Applies to all entities and facilities operating x-ray
devices for medical/non-medical purposes and all
establishments introducing electrical/electronic
devices that emit x-ray radiation intentionally or as a
by-product
 Radiation generators, of a type approved by the
BHDT/DOH, are automatically exempted without
further consideration from the requirements of the
Standards, provided that
◦ in normal operating conditions, they do not cause ambient
dose/directional dose equivalent rate exceeding 1 µSv/hr at a
distance of 0.1 m from any accessible surface of the
apparatus, or the maximum energy of the radiation < 5 keV

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 Justification of Practices
◦ No practice shall be adopted/authorized unless the
practice produces sufficient benefit to the exposed
individual or society to offset the radiation harm
that it may cause
 Dose Limitation
◦ Relevant dose limit specified must not be
exceeded by restricting the normal exposure of
individuals
◦ Dose limits shall not apply to medical exposures
from authorized practices

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 Optimization of protection and safety
◦ optimized protection and safety measures
 Magnitude of individual exposures, number of people
exposed, and the likelihood of incurring exposures
shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable
 Use dose constraints to restrict doses delivered to
individuals
◦ establish criteria, on the basis of the results of the
optimization, for the restriction of the magnitudes
of exposures and of their probabilities by means of
measures for preventing accidents

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 Dose constraint
◦ The optimization of protection and safety measures
associated with a particular source shall not exceed
either the appropriate values established or agreed
to by the BHDT, or values which can cause the dose
limits to be exceeded
 Guidance levels
◦ Medical radiation practitioners shall use guidance
levels for medical exposure

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 Safety Culture
◦ policies/procedures to be established that identify
safety as of being the highest priority; RPO can stop
unsafe operations
◦ problems affecting protection and safety be
promptly identified and corrected in a manner
commensurate with their importance
◦ responsibilities of each individual be clearly
identified
◦ clear lines of authority for decisions on protection
and safety be defined, as well as an appropriate flow
of information on protection/safety

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 Quality Assurance
◦ check that the specific requirements related to
protection and safety are satisfied
◦ quality control mechanisms and procedures for
reviewing/assessing the overall effectiveness of
protection and safety measures

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 Human Factors
◦ appropriate training of personnel/qualified so that they
understand their duties and responsibilities, as well as
restrict potential exposures
◦ sound ergonomic principles so that likelihood of error
be minimized
◦ appropriate equipment, safety systems, and procedural
requirements be provided to reduce the possibility that
human error will lead to unintentional exposure
 means to detect human errors
◦ facilitate intervention in the event of failure of safety
systems

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 Qualified Experts
◦ Shall be identified and made available for providing
advice on the observance of the Standards

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 Ensure that protection and safety measures are
governed by the technical requirements specified in
the Manual
 Defence in Depth
◦ different layers of protection; failure at one layer is
compensated for or corrected by subsequent layers
 Good Engineering Practice
◦ follow standards/maintenance
◦ reliable organizational/managerial features
◦ include sufficient safety margins for design and construction of
x-ray devices; designed to prevent accidents
 Take into account relevant developments in technical
criteria
 Safety Assessments
◦ Shall be made at different stages
◦ Should include the following:
 identify potential exposures and normal exposures
 determine the expected magnitudes of normal exposures,
and estimate the probabilities and magnitudes of potential
exposures
 Understand the ways in which structures, systems, and
components may fail, their consequences, and how to prevent
 Ways in which operating procedures related to protection or
safety may be erroneous, and the consequences
 assess the quality and extent of the protection
and safety provisions
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 Monitoring and Verification of Compliance
◦ Equipment shall be provided and verification
procedures introduced
 Records
 Results of monitoring and verification of
compliance
 Records of tests and calibrations carried out

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 Radiation Protection Requirements
◦ Justified only if it is expected to achieve more good
than harm
◦ Optimized intervention levels/action levels shall be
specified in plans for intervention situations
 Administrative Requirements
◦ Ensure that an emergency plan exists that defines
on-site and off-site responsibilities
◦ Have in place operating procedures for reporting
and learning from accidents, occurrences, and
incidents

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 BHDT is responsible for enforcement of the
appropriate Regulatory Standards
 Employers/registrants/licensees mainly

responsible for the application of the Regulatory

Standards
◦ Establish protection and safety objectives in
conformity with the requirements specific to the x-ray
device
◦ Develop, implement and document a radiation
protection program commensurate with the nature and
extent of the risks associated with the
practices/interventions under their responsibility

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Manual on Basic Radiation Protection and
Safety of X-Ray Sources

 Occupational Exposure
 Public Exposure

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 Limit occupational exposures
◦ Effective dose of 20mSv per year average over five
consecutive years
◦ Effective dose of 50mSv in any single year
◦ Equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 150mSv in a
year
◦ Equivalent dose to the extremities (hands and feet) or
the skin of 500mSv in a year
◦ For apprentices (16-18 years old), see Appendix I.
 Decisions regarding measures for occupational
protection/safety be recorded and made
available

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 Necessary health surveillance and health
services be provided, if applicable
 Adequate human resources, appropriate
training, as well as periodic retraining and
updating
 Workers exposed to radiation from sources
other than natural sources that are not directly
related to their work (or not required by their
work) receive the same level of protection as if
they were members of the public

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 As a precondition for employment, licensees must
obtain previous occupational exposure history of
workers and other information necessary to
provide protection and safety in compliance with
the Standards
 Workers to be engaged in work that
involves/could involve radiation sources not
under direct control of employer:
◦ The licensee responsible for the source shall provide the
appropriate information to the employer for the purpose
of demonstrating that the workers are provided with
protection

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 Workers shall
◦ Follow any applicable rules and procedures for protection and
safety
◦ Use properly the monitoring devices and the protective
equipment
◦ Cooperate with the employer with respect to protection and
safety and the conduct of health surveillance and dose
assessment programs
◦ Provide to the employer such information on their past and
current work as relevant to ensure effective and
comprehensive protection
◦ Abstain from any willful action that could put themselves or
others in situations that contravene the requirements of the
Standards

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 Workers shall
◦ If a worker is able to identify circumstances that could
aversely affect compliance with the Standards, the worker
shall as soon as feasible report such circumstances to the
employer.
◦ Employers should record any report received from a worker
that identifies circumstances that could affect compliance
with the Standards.

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 Conditions of Service
◦ Special compensatory arrangements shall not be
used as substitutes for the provision of proper
protection and safety measures
 Pregnant Workers
◦ Female worker should, on becoming aware of the
pregnancy, notify the employer so that her working
conditions may be modified
◦ Employer shall adapt the working conditions (with
respect to occupational exposure) so as to ensure
that embryo is afforded the level of protection as
required for the public

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 For Young People
◦ No person under 16 shall be subjected to occupational
exposure
◦ No person under 18 shall be allowed to work in a controlled
area unless supervised; only for the purpose of training
 Classification of Areas
◦ Delineate controlled and supervised areas
 Controlled area: any area in which specific protective
measures/safety provisions are required to control normal
exposures, and limit/prevent the extent of potential
exposures
 Supervised area: any area where exposure conditions need
to be kept under review

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 Monitoring of the Workplace
 Nature/frequency:
◦ Sufficient to enable
 Evaluation of radiological conditions in all workplaces
 Exposure assessment in controlled areas and supervised areas
 Review of the classification of controlled and supervised areas
 Program shall specify
◦ Quantities to be measured
◦ Where and when the measurements are to be made; at what
frequency?
◦ Measurement methods/procedures
◦ Reference levels and actions to be taken
 Control of Visitors
◦ Justification
◦ Ensure that visitors be accompanied in any
controlled area
◦ Provide adequate information and instruction to
visitors
◦ Ensure that adequate control over entry of visitors
to a supervised area be maintained
◦ Appropriate signs posted

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 Monitoring of Public Exposure
◦ Establish and carry out a monitoring program
sufficient to ensure that the requirements are
satisfied
◦ Assess if public exposure is within the Standards
◦ Keep appropriate records of the results to the
monitoring programs
◦ Report a summary of the monitoring results to the
BHDT/DOH at approved intervals
◦ Report promptly to the BHDT any significant
increase in environmental radiation fields that could
be attributed to radiation emitted by sources
 A.O. 149 s. 2004
◦ Promulgates the Standards on Radiation Protection
and Safety - Practices
 D.C. 323 s. 2004
◦ Manual containing detailed Basic Radiation
Protection and Safety (as provided in A.O. 149)
 Questions/Clarifications?
◦ Email: krislimbo@yahoo.com
 grcabrera@co.doh.gov.ph

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