Squat practices and new practice sites

Radiation Protection of Squat Dental Practices or New Sites – What do I need to know?

The 10 second read is… ensure there is a dental RPA (radiation protection adviser) review of plans early and establish your radiation protection file and register with the HSE before you open!

Starting from scratch on a new site is an exciting prospect and x-ray equipment and radiation protection will be but one of the many aspects on your list to deal with. 

The first key step is to appoint a dental RPA (Radiation Protection Adviser) and ask them to review your drawings.  Not only will this fulfil the legal requirement for an RPA to be consulted re “the prior examination of plans for installations” (Schedule 4 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations),  it is advisable to do this early in the design process to:

-Ensure you have a safe general concept layout and that equipment controls and isolator switches are located in appropriate locations.  This can otherwise be costly and messy to rectify later.

-Provide you with any assistance that may be required with equipment selection.

-Ensure that, if required, the necessary radiation protection shielding has been incorporated into the design.  Conversely, in the absence of specialist advice suppliers may initially design in shielding which is unnecessarily or over-specified, so on many occasions there may be opportunity to reduce the shielding specified and avoid some hefty costs.

So, bricks and mortar resolved… next up is registration with the HSE.  It is a legal requirement for all dentists working with x-rays to register with the HSE.  The registration form is very brief, as part of the registration process you will simply need to confirm that you have a number of radiation protection governance arrangements in place at the time of registration.   All of these will be covered in your dental Radiation Protection File, so it’s a good idea to get your RPA appointed early and the framework of the dental radiation protection file established.  The aspects that you will need to confirm are in place are (reworded slightly here for brevity!):

-A risk assessment has been completed which identifies the main radiological risks

-Steps have been taken to measure or estimate employee’s exposure to radiation

-Actions identified to restrict employee’s exposure to radiation have been completed

-Contingency plans are in place for reasonably foreseeable accidents

-A suitable RPA has been appointed

-Appropriate training, information and instruction is provided to employees

-Controlled areas have been correctly designated

-Written local rules have been drawn up, radiation protection supervisors are appointed

There’s more information from the HSE here https://www.hse.gov.uk/radiation/ionising/notification-process.htm .

At CompleteRPA we’re always happy to support clients through this process – please get in touch.