 INES 2 |
Exposure of workers performing industrial radiography |
In October 2013, four workers were exposed performing industrial radiography at a building construction site of a thermo power plant in Slovenia. The dosimetry service reported the received doses of 27.5 mSv, 19.18 mSv, 2.62 mSv and 1.86 mSv in one month period. The received doses of all four workers exceeded a monthly dose constraint of 1.6 mSv. The total received annual doses of two workers were 32.25 mSv and 20.52 mSv exceeding the statutory annual dose limit for occupationally exposed workers of 20 mSv.
Two workers were exposed due to technical problems with one of the devices. It also seemed that personal electronic dosimeters were not working properly. Furthermore, they did not report about the incident to a radiation protection officer.
The exceeded monthly dose constraint of the other two workers was due to workload.
A few days after the event a technical support organization examined all the devices at the site and found out that additional device of the same type was not working properly.
The event is still under investigation. An authorised technical support organisation will perform the reconstruction of the event as well as the equivalent dose for extremities, lens of the eyes, other body organs exposed and the total effective dose will be assessed.
The overexposure of the workers indicates a low level of safety culture in the company.
Event date: Thu, 31-10-2013
