home > resources > radiation safety > dosimetry (badging)

Dosimetry (Badging)
Personnel Radiation Monitoring

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.

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.

*Everyone in the United States receives an average annual dose of 0.3 rem from naturally occurring sources of ionizing radiation.

Declared Pregnant Worker Limits

Federal and State regulations mandate a reduced dose limit for a radiation worker who has voluntarily declared her pregnancy.  This reduced dose limit is 0.5 rem during the pregnancy with an additional requirement that the dose should not exceed 0.05 rem/month. If the 0.5 rem dose limit has already been exceeded when pregnancy is declared, only an additional 0.05 rem dose is permitted for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Radiation exposure limits are also listed in the Radiation Safety Policies & Procedures Manual.

This document provides additional information:
NRC Appendix to Reg. 8.13: "Instructions Concerning Prenatal Radiation Exposure"

A pregnant radiation worker can request to be monitored under the lower dose limit for a pregnant radiation worker by completing a declaration of pregnancy form. The form should be submitted to the Vanderbilt Occupational Health Services (OHS) office, either in person (640 Medical Arts Building), or by fax (6-0966). Once the form has been submitted, the declared pregnant worker will be contacted to ensure that radiation exposure is minimized.

The declaration of pregnancy forms are available here and also from the OHS and VEHS offices.

All badge application forms are also available in the VEHS administrative offices.  To download these files requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded free from the Adobe Reader web site.

• Initial Application Forms
  • Radiation Dosimeter Registration Form
    Must be completed before the badge can be assigned.
  • Instructions
  • 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 the badges delivered to his or her department.

Top of page

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. 

Top of page

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 (343-2041),  mail (U-0211 MCN, 2665), or by delivery to our administrative office location.

If you need a badge immediately, come to the VEHS administrative offices located in A-0201 Medical Center North, and a temporary badge will be issued for your use until your own badge comes.

VEHS Radiation Dosimetry Services
U-0211 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.

Top of page