Radiation Protection Policy

This policy outlines The Dental Practice's commitment to comply with the Ionising Radiations Regulations (IRR) and the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (IRMER) to ensure the safety of patients, staff, and others.

Responsibilities [insert names]:

• Employer: The Dental Practice is responsible for implementing and maintaining this policy.
• Radiation Protection Advisor (RPA): Provides expert advice on compliance with IRR and IRMER and reviews this policy annually.
• Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS): Ensures daily compliance with this policy within the practice.
• Staff: All staff are responsible for complying with this policy.

Procedures:

• Justification: All exposure to ionising radiation will be justified. The benefits of each exposure must outweigh any potential risks.
• Optimisation: All exposure to ionising radiation will be as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP principle).
• Dose Limits: The practice will ensure that all dose limits set out in IRR are not exceeded.
• Quality Assurance: All equipment used to produce ionising radiation will be regularly maintained and tested.
• Training: All staff involved with ionising radiation will be adequately trained and this training will be regularly updated.

Emergency Procedures:

In case of an incident involving ionising radiation, staff will follow the practice's radiation incident plan. All incidents will be reported to the RPA and investigated to prevent recurrence.

Record Keeping:

Records of all ionising radiation exposures will be kept in accordance with IRMER. This includes patient exposures, quality assurance results, and staff training records.

Review:

This policy will be reviewed annually or when there are significant changes to legislation, guidance or the practice's processes.

Approval:

This Radiation Protection Policy has been approved by senior management at The Dental Practice.

Date:

Policy implemented on: [Insert Date]

Next Review due: [Insert Date (One year from implementation)]