Workshops - The Asia Region ALARA Network (ARAN)

ARAN Workshops

ARAN 2010 Workshop
Occupational exposure to medical radiations, Adelaide, Australia


The Third ARAN Workshop was held in Adelaide, Australia from 13 to 16 October 2010.

At this meeting relevant to radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, radiology and interventional departments of health care facilities were discussed and featured prominent keynotes from experts of the IAEA.

Participation was by invitation only. However non-participating observers were able to attend the Workshop. 

DRAFT WORKSHOP RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1  To have monitoring infrastructure and database adapted to ALARA

It is recommended that Member States & facilities maintain local/ national dose register systems. The register should be kept by a service provider or licensee approved by the competent authority. The register should hold data for each medical facility. The national register should track the total for each worker that works at multiple facilities. The local personnel monitoring records should provide information on the worker medical sector and subsector as well as work functions, allowing to point out the most exposed professions and to be consistent with UNSCEAR work sector/worker group categorization

Recommendation 2 Use of monitoring infrastructures and database

It is recommended that the medical facility have an ALARA review of their personnel monitoring records as a means of assessing the effectiveness of ALARA, including the use of investigation levels after each monitoring period and the use of dose constraints and trends analysis for specific work functions, at least annually.

Recommendation 3   IGIP monitoring specific requirement

For Imaged Guided Interventional Procedures (IGIP) it is recommended that the medical facility

  •  have the workers wear 2 monitoring badges if possible (1 under the apron and 1 outside (at collar level.)

  •  if workers only wear 1 badge, it should be worn outside the apron, at collar level.

  •  recorded doses must be actual doses

  •  each monitoring badge should be correctly traceable to the wearer.  

Recommendation 4   ARAN and IAEA promoting ALARA Program and tools

It is recommended that ARAN formalize an “Occupational Job Safety Analysis” or similar, as an approach to ALARA,  methodology for the nuclear medicine sub-sector (initially) and prepare a pilot programme for one or more organization/country to enhance the effectiveness of the ALARA activities in their organization/country.
At the conclusion of the pilot programme, there will be an analysis and reports  in order to assess the efficacy of the programme.
 
Recommendation 5   ARAN and IAEA providing training material

It is recommended that:

  • ARAN develop draft guidelines for basic radiation protection awareness and ALARA considerations training specific for each medical sub sector,

  • AEA, at the international level, also develop international guidance on basic radiation protection training specific to radiology and cardiology practices for each category of personnel engaged in this. ie  Nurses, servicing personnel.

Recommendation 6   IAEA training the trainers
 
It is recommended that IAEA initiate a regional training programme to “train the trainer” in radiation protection and ALARA considerations in Nuclear Medicine, radiotherapy, diagnostic radiology, interventional procedures, based on job classification and work functions.

Recommendation 7   ARAN Website medical section
 
It is recommended that ARAN create a medical section on its website for sharing of ALARA strategies, with sub-sections for nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, and radiology  This should provide access to training material, methodological material, and recommendations 

Recommendation 8   Inclusion of RP tools with all medical radiation equipment 

  •  For medical facilities it is recommended that tenders for purchases of medical radiation equipment, should include all necessary RP tools.

  •  For suppliers of medical radiation equipment it is recommended that they ensure that all RP tools necessary are included as a default.

  •  For the IAEA it is recommended that all IAEA supplied medical radiation equipment should also come with all necessary RP tools.

Recommendation 9 ALARA , Design and expert role
 
The Regulator to require overall room design (shielding and layout) in all medical facilities to be performed by ‘qualified experts’ (persons who have been recognised by a competent authority as possessing the skills to perform shielding calculations and can advise on room layout).
 
Recommendation 10 Adequate number of experts in medical uses of radiation

Given the increasing use of radiation in medical applications in the region:

  •  For all Member states it is recommended that they have an adequate number of qualified medical physicists and RPO in all areas of medical uses of radiation, including diagnostic radiology and interventional procedures, to enhance implementation of ALARA.


Recommendation 11   I- 131 requirements
 

  •  The Regulator to require medical facilities who are doing I-131 therapy to prepare emergency plans, including appropriate spill kits.

  •  ARAN will set up a WG to investigate spill kit composition.

  •  The medical facilities to require that I-131 patients be physically able and mentally prepared prior to treatment, noting that assistance can be provided by appropriately instructed care givers.

Recommendation 12 Promoting good  practices

The following good practice recommendations are made concerning safe practices:

  •  For the medical  facility, RPO/medical Physicist it is recommended that lead aprons should be correctly labelled, be appropriate for the task and be regularly inspected (at least yearly) and correctly stored.

  •  For the medical facility it is recommended for interventional procedures, that eye protection is used.

  •  For IAEA It is recommended to develop a threshold activity for each major radioisotope used in nuclear medicine, in such a way that when a worker handles more than that value in seven consecutive days, they are required to undergo bioassay monitoring. 

ARAN 2009 Workshop
Improving Radiation Protection in NORM Industries, China


The Second ARAN Workshop was on Improving Radiation Protection in NORM Industries and will be held in China from 12 to 16 October 2009.

ARPS Members were asked to suggest ideas for:

  • Topics and issues to be discussed at the Workshop
  • Appropriate participants   

ARAN 2008 Workshop
NDT, Japan 2008

The first activity of ARAN was its First Workshop on the theme “Improving Radiation Protection in Industrial Radiography” held in Chiba, Japan, in November 2008. 32 participants and experts attended the Workshop, which was highly successful and a good learning process for what can be achieved in future Workshops.

The meeting was structured in several sessions with presentations from experts and country presentations. The sessions covered topics such as Accidents/Incidents in industrial radiography and lessons learned, Regulatory requirements for radiation protection in industrial radiography, Techniques and equipment used in industrial radiography and new developments, Occupational exposure trends in industrial radiography, and Training programs in industrial radiography to improve radiation protection. The participants discussed specific issues in industrial radiography practice in working groups. This was a very useful part of the meeting.

The general conclusion was that the meeting was a good opportunity for participants to bench mark the radiation protection status in industrial radiography practice. ARAN was welcomed as a good project which should have happened a long time ago. It was concluded that there is a need for improving the safety culture in the industrial radiography sector in different ways; harmonising training or sensitisation at the regional and national level, organising dialogue between the concerned stakeholders, improving inspections and favouring feedback exchanges.

The Workshop participants developed a set of recommendations on improving radiation protection in industrial radiography in the region. These recommendations will be disseminated via the ARAN web site, but are in summary:

Recommendation 1: An Industry Code of Conduct.

Recommendation 2: IAEA should develop safety training courses for industrial radiographers.

Recommendation 3: ARAN surveys training across the region, sets up a working group to analyse it, and recommends best practices in NDT training.

Recommendation 4: Regulatory bodies increase the frequency of unannounced inspections and have a system of notification by NDT companies to facilitate this.

Recommendation 5: National regulatory bodies to improve the dialogue with NDT companies through working groups, seminars.

Recommendation 6: Regional collation of incident data.

Recommendation 7: Relating to certification of sources.

Recommendation 8: Companies to reinforce the periodic assessment of equipment performance.

Recommendation 9: Dose distribution to be available across the region (not just from UNSCEAR).

Also in Chiba, an ARAN Steering Committee Meeting was held. This meeting discussed:

  • the future activities of ARAN;
  • actions arising from the first ARAN Workshop;
  • the Public Face of ARAN; and,
  • future funding of ARAN.

A public web site concept was also discussed which would incorporate Google visibility and a search capability so as to disseminate ARAN information as widely as possible.

The meeting considered that ARAN self-funding mechanisms might be achieved through a combination of Industry funding, Professional Association funding and Government funding and it was agreed that all these mechanisms should be explored in the immediate future.