1INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Radiological Protection for Medical Exposure to Ionizing Radiation, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. RS-G-1.5, IAEA, Vienna (2002). EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR THERAPEUTIC RADIOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MEDICAL PHYSICS, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Applying Radiation Safety Standards in Radiotherapy, Safety Reports Series No. 38, IAEA, Vienna (2006). INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MEDICAL PHYSICS, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF RADIOLOGY, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Applying Radiation Safety Standards in Diagnostic Radiology and Interventional Procedures Using X Rays, Safety Reports Series No. 39, IAEA, Vienna (2006). INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MEDICAL PHYSICS, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION, WORLD FEDERATION OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Applying Radiation Safety Standards in Nuclear Medicine, Safety Reports Series No. 40, IAEA, Vienna (2005).

2A Safety Guide on non-medical human imaging is in preparation. Guidance on the justification of non-medical human imaging is provided in IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSG-5, Justification of Practices, Including Non-medical Human Imaging [6]

3The definition of medical exposure in GSR Part 3 [3] was changed from that used previously to ensure that the event of the wrong individual being exposed is kept within the radiation protection and safety framework for medical exposure so that it can be investigated by the appropriate people, with corrective actions to minimize recurrence.

4States have different legal structures, and therefore the term ‘government’ as used in IAEA safety standards is to be understood in a broad sense, and is accordingly interchangeable here with the term ‘State’.

5The term ‘doses’ in paras 2.34–2.45, on DRLs, includes activities in nuclear medicine procedures, as described in para. 2.18.

6See www.eu-alara.net/index.php/surveys-mainmenu-53/36-ean-surveys/156-drls.html

7See www.arpansa.gov.au/research/surveys/national-diagnostic-reference-level-service

8See www.eurosafeimaging.org/pidrl

9The term ‘practice guidelines and technical standards’ is used to represent the range of documents, statements and publications produced by professional bodies to help to educate and guide health professionals in the conduct of their specialty.

10Although not strictly a radiation protection and safety issue, it is important to ensure that the building can support the weight of the structural shielding, for which it may have not been originally designed.

11The IT specialist in this respect is an expert in imaging informatics, with expertise in improving the efficiency, accuracy, usability, reliability and interconnectivity of medical imaging and radiotherapy services within the medical radiation facility and, if relevant, its parent health care facility.

12The ethics committee is the term used in GSR Part 3 [3] to refer to a committee dedicated to the rights and well-being of research subjects. Other terms, such as institutional review board, are used in some States.

13The definition of supplier (of a source) in GSR Part 3 [3] includes designers, manufacturers, producers, constructors, assemblers, installers, distributors, sellers, importers and exporters of a source.

14Also called anaesthesiologists in some States.

15The medical radiation facility may be a ‘stand alone’ entity, such as a medical imaging centre, or it may be part of a larger organization, such as a hospital. The focus of paras 2.138–2.149 on the management system is at the medical radiation facility level, but, where the medical radiation facility is part of a larger organization, the management system of the medical radiation facility will be part of the larger organization’s management system.

16See http://dicom.nema.org

17See www.hl7.org

18See www.ihe.net

19The World Health Imaging System is general purpose X ray equipment built in accordance with specifications developed by the World Health Organization for developing countries.

20The term ‘operator’ is used in a general sense in this section. The operator is usually a medical radiation technologist, but may sometimes be a radiological medical practitioner.

21Other guidelines are available at http://gbu.radiologie.fr, www.imagingpathways.health.wa.gov.au and www.myesr.org/esriguide

22Such electronic requesting systems include the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system; such a system is expected to generate a request for imaging rather than an order.

23See www.iaea.org/resources/rpop/resources/databases-and-learning-systems/safrad

24In a nuclear medicine facility, sealed sources are also present, such as those used as check sources for the calibration of activity meters and nuclear flood sources to check the uniformity of gamma cameras and for the quality assurance and calibration of PET scanners.

25Such electronic requesting systems include the CPOE system; such a system is expected to generate a request for imaging rather than an order.