BUREAU PROGRAMS

• Ionizing Radiation Machines (X-ray)
• Radioactive Materials
• Radiologic Technology
• Environmental Radiation Monitoring, Emergency Preparedness and Response
• Nonionizing Radiation Machines (Lasers)

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• ABOUT THE BUREAU

• Introduction

Medical radiation machines make up the largest man-made source of exposure to the public. In 1958, the state Board of Health began a program to inspect radiation machines. Today over 18,000 facilities, including hospitals, doctors' offices, universities, and corporations, have registered more than 50,000 x-ray machines with the department.

The radiation machine program works to reduce exposure to workers and the public from machines that emit radiation for medical, scientific, educational, and industrial purposes. The program accomplishes this by:

• stopping unauthorized uses and users,
• preventing accidental or unintended exposures,
• ending ineffective or inappropriate uses of radiation, and
• reducing the amount of exposure needed to accomplish the task.

One way these goals are achieved is through on-site inspections. The department regularly inspects each radiation machine according to a schedule that varies depending upon how the machine is used. This schedule ranges from annually for mammography and cancer therapy machines to every 5 years for dental and podiatry machines. Department staff performed over 13,000 inspections last year. During these inspections they:

• check the machine to see that it operates as it was designed,
• ensure the people who use the machine are qualified to do so, and
• verify the machine is used safely and appropriately.

If a machine poses an immediate threat to the public health, the department requests its immediate removal from service. For less serious problems, the department gives machine owners 90 days to correct the deficiencies.