Radiation Safety Officer Job Description

The Role of the Radiation Safety Supervisor in Regulatory Compliance

You have to ask yourself that question before you accept the position. The spotlight will be on you. You cannot cut corners or try to change the rules.

The regulatory agency is giving you the responsibility of protecting public and property. Everyone around you will scrutinize your actions. It means that you have the knowledge and skill, the resources and time, the will, and the clout in your organization to ensure that activities involving radiation and radioactive materials are conducted safely, and that all license requirements are being met.

You have the ultimate responsibility, even though you can delegate tasks. It depends. If you only have to deal with sealed sources in portable nuclear testing gauges, you don't need a degree in nuclear physics.

A major broad-scope university, medical center, or manufacturer will probably need an RSO with a good scientific background, including knowledge of radiation characteristics and methods of detection. The certificate for APNGA gauge safety training will include a confirmation and signature line for the RSO to acknowledge that the employee has received hands on training with the gauge in use by the company. The safe use of gauge is covered in the APNGA training course.

The same mechanics of measurement are used by virtually all gauges, and an internal source and an adjusted source rod are used for measuring density and moisture. The software and the keypad are the only differences between the models. The RSO must explain the gauge to the worker in a way that is understandable.

Radiation licences and approval processes

It is important to understand how radiation licences, approvals and certificates relate to one another. When you set up a business that involves radiation, you need to make sure that all of your staff have the necessary licenses. The possession licensee has a staff that is trained on radiation hazard and safe working practices.

They have an up to date inventory of all radiation equipment and sources. A use licensee is the individual who will use the radiation source. The radiation practice and the type of radiation source that they use have been met by use licensees.

The operation of a radiation practice depends on appointing an RSO. Ensuring appropriate radiation safety measures are in place is one of the benefits of a radiation business. A licensee can apply for a third party authorisation to represent them in relation to their licence under the Radiation Safety Act 1999.

Radiation Safety Officers

The title implies that a radiation safety officer is responsible for preventing injuries from radiation. The basic principles of RSOs are the same, even if the work environment might vary from one hospital to another. Radiation safety officers are trained to deal with radiation emergencies and design and manage systems to protect workers and the public.

Radiation safety officers are usually trained in physics and radiation related subjects, but they may also have professional degrees. The Health Physics Society says that an RSO might be a medical physicist, a nuclear medicine pharmacist, a physicist or an engineer. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that qualifications could be different.