It is very important to report radiation incidents to the Office of Radiation Safety. In some cases this is a mandatory regulatory requirement. In others it is part of a ‘lessons learned’ campaign to help improve radiation safety.
The Radiation Safety Act 2016 specifies duties of holders of source licences. Sections 20(3a) and 25(2) state that if the holder of a source licence or consent holder believes that an incident has occurred that has resulted in unintended loss or release of radiation, or overexposure of a person to radiation, the holder must notify the Director as soon as practicable. Failing to notify the Director is an offence under the Radiation Safety Act 2016 (Section 65).
The new Codes of Practice specify what is considered as an incident. For example, ORS C2, the Code of Safe Practice for Nuclear Medicine states that a reportable incident is an incident resulting in (a) a dose limit being exceeded, (b) radioactive sources that are lost, missing or beyond regulatory control, or (c) a radiation dose to a patient that exceeds 1.5 times the intended dose (when the intended effective dose exceeds 5 mSv), 2 times the intended dose (when the intended effective dose exceeds 0.5 mSv but is less than or equal to 5 mSv), or 20 times the intended dose (when the intended dose is less than or equal to 0.5 mSv).
The Radiation Emergency team is available 24 hours to provide advice and contact details of the Director. Simply call 021 393 632.
Please use the appropriate form below for reporting a radiation incident:
- Medical incidents – involving patient exposure (PDF, 78 KB)
- Medical incidents – involving patient exposure (doc, 104 KB)
- Non-medical incidents – not involving patient exposure (PDF, 75 KB)
- Non-medical incidents – not involving patient exposure (doc, 96 KB)
We are in the process of updating our forms. Please ensure you use the current form.