Radiation Dosimetry (Badging)

General Information

Procedures

Requirements

Personnel monitoring badges must be worn by anyone who may exceed 10% of the annual dose limits.  Badges are not issued to persons who are exposed only to low energy beta radiation. Monitoring badges cannot detect low energy betas (less than 0.25 MeV) from isotopes such as ³H, ¹⁴C, ³⁵S, ⁴⁵Ca, and ⁶³Ni.

Ring badges are issued when there is a potential for high exposure to the hands which can happen to individuals who work with millicurie amounts of ³²P, to personnel in Nuclear Medicine, to brachytherapy source handlers, and to some users of x-ray equipment.

Radiation Worker Exposure Limits

Annual Exposure Limits

Vanderbilt works to keep radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). Federal and State radiation dose limits have been established to assure safety for people who work with ionizing radiation.

Organ	*Limit (rem/year)
Whole Body	5
Lens of the Eye	15
Extremities	50
Skin	50
Individual Organs	50
* Everyone in the United States receives an average annual dose of 0.3 rem from naturally occurring sources of ionizing radiation.

Declared Pregnant Worker Radiation Exposure Limits

Please review information provided on the Declared Pregnant Worker page for more information on this topic.

Forms

All badge application forms are also available in the VEHS administrative offices.

• Initial Application Forms
  • Radiation Worker Dosimeter Badge Request Form
    Must be completed before the badge can be assigned.
  • Past Exposure History Release Letter
    One letter must be completed for each institution at which you received occupational exposure to radiation.
  • User Responsibilities and Interpretation of Radiation Dosimetry Reports
• Missing Badge Form
  This must be completed for all dosimeters that are not turned in to Institutional Safety so that an estimate of exposure during a given wear period can be made.
• Replacement/Change Monitoring Badge
  This must be completed to change departments, change name, or to receive a temporary dosimeter when the assigned one is lost.
• Declaration of Pregnancy Letter
  This must be completed to be eligible for the lower occupational radiation exposure limits for the fetus/embryo of a Declared Pregnant Worker (DPW).
• Un-declaration of Pregnancy Letter
  This must be completed when the DPW no longer wishes to be held to the lower exposure limits. (This will discontinue receipt of the fetal monitoring dosimeter.)
• Vanderbilt Past Exposure Request Letter
  Fill this out to request copies of your Vanderbilt radiation exposure records.
• Badge Representative Change/Deletion Form
  Completed by departmental badge representatives to make changes regarding the badges delivered to his or her department.

Badge Representatives

Vanderbilt has designated badge representatives for each department.  When the initial application form is filled out, each person must indicate the department in which they work, and the Radiation Dosimetry representative will tell them who their badge representative is.  At the end of the badging period (either monthly or quarterly, depending on the department), the new badges are sent to the badge representative.  Individuals  will exchange old badges for the new ones with their department's badge representative.  Departmental badge representatives should refer to the Radiation Badge Representative Training and Badge Representative Responsibilities Guide   for more information.

Applying for a Badge

Each individual who applies for a radiation monitoring badge must complete the Radiation Dosimeter Registration Form, and will need to complete one Past Exposure History Release Letter for all previous institutions (other than Vanderbilt) where he or she was monitored for radiation. 

If an individual has been monitored for radiation at Vanderbilt before, he or she should complete the Replacement/Change Monitoring Badge Form.   When filling out the form, check 'Other'  and explain that the individual was monitored at Vanderbilt previously and their badge needs to be reactivated.

All application forms are available from the forms section of this page, and these forms can submitted to VEHS by fax (343-4951),  campus mail or by hand delivery to our administrative office location at A-0201 MCN, 2665.

If you need a badge immediately, come to the VEHS offices located in V-0215 MRB III, and a temporary badge will be issued for your use until your own badge comes.

Changing Departments or Names

If you move from one department to another or need to change your name, submit the Replacement/Change Monitoring Badge form, as described above in Applying for a Badge.

Replacing a Lost or Damaged Badge

If your badge is damaged or lost, come to the VEHS administrative offices located in A-0201 Medical Center North immediately to get a temporary replacement badge. 

Radiation Exposure History Requests

To get a copy of your radiation exposure record after you have left Vanderbilt, fill out and sign a Vanderbilt Past Exposure Request Letter and fax it to 615-343-4951 or mail it to:

VEHS Radiation Dosimetry Services
A-0201 Medical Center North
1161 21st Avenue, South
Nashville, TN 37232-2665

Vanderbilt must have the signature of the individual who was monitored in order to release that person's radiation exposure history record.