South Australian Current Regulations

RADIATION PROTECTION AND CONTROL REGULATIONS 2022 - SCHEDULE 3

Schedule 3—Notifiable radiation incidents

1—Medical exposures of patients to ionising radiation

        (1)         The following incidents involving medical exposures of patients to ionising radiation are declared to be notifiable radiation incidents:

            (a)         a diagnostic procedure not authorised for a patient by a health practitioner who may authorise an exposure to ionising radiation under regulation 106;

            (b)         a diagnostic procedure that results in an observable acute radiation effect;

            (c)         a therapeutic treatment that is delivered—

                  (i)         to the wrong patient; or

                  (ii)         to the wrong tissue; or

                  (iii)         using the wrong radiopharmaceutical;

            (d)         the administration of a radioactive material for diagnostic purposes in which the activity of the material administered exceeds the activity prescribed in the hospital or practice standard protocol for that test by 50% or more;

            (e)         the administration of a radioactive material for therapeutic purposes in which the activity of the material administered differs from the activity prescribed by the health practitioner by 15% or more;

            (f)         the administration of a therapeutic dose of ionising radiation from radiation apparatus or a sealed radioactive source in which the dose delivered to the patient differs from the total treatment dose prescribed by the health practitioner by more than 10%.

        (2)         In subclause (1)(e) and (f), a reference to a health practitioner is a reference to the health practitioner who, under regulation 106, authorised the administration of the radioactive material or dose of ionising radiation from radiation apparatus or a sealed radioactive source, as the case may be.

2—Incidents that cause or may lead to radiation injuries or radiation doses exceeding the annual dose limits to workers or members of the public

An incident that causes or may lead to—

            (a)         radiation injuries; or

            (b)         a worker receiving a dose of ionising radiation exceeding the annual effective dose limits prescribed by regulation 85(1)(a)(i); or

            (c)         a member of the public receiving a dose of ionising radiation exceeding the annual effective dose limits prescribed by regulation 85(1)(b)(i),

is declared to be a notifiable radiation incident.

3—Loss or theft of radioactive sources or radiation apparatus

An incident involving the loss or theft of a radiation source is declared to be a notifiable radiation incident.

4—Incidents relating to the transport of radioactive material

The following incidents are declared to be notifiable radiation incidents:

            (a)         the damage or loss of a package containing radioactive material during freight handling or transport;

            (b)         the transport of a package containing radioactive material without the document, placarding or labelling required by law.

5—Unintentional or unauthorised discharges of radioactive material into the environment

An incident involving the discharge of radioactive material into the environment that is unintentional or is not authorised by law is declared to be a notifiable radiation incident if—

            (a)         in relation to a discharge of naturally occurring radioactive material—the discharge of the material will cause radiological exposure to the environment resulting, or potentially resulting, in 1 or more of the following:

                  (i)         a change in current or future land use;

                  (ii)         negative effects to flora or fauna; or

            (b)         in any other case—the activity of any radionuclide in the material exceeds 100 times the exempt activity for that radionuclide.

6—Damage to, or malfunctioning of, radiation apparatus or sealed radioactive source

An incident involving damage to, or the malfunctioning of, radiation apparatus or a sealed radioactive source is declared to be a notifiable radiation incident if the damage or malfunctioning could in any way affect the radiation safety of the apparatus or source.

7—Contamination with, or dispersal of, radioactive material

An incident involving the contamination of a surface, substance or material by a radioactive material resulting from the spillage of more than 100 times the exempt activity of a radionuclide contained in the radioactive material is declared to be a notifiable radiation incident.

8—Out of control radiation sources

        (1)         An incident involving a radiation source that is out of control is declared to be a notifiable radiation incident.

        (2)         For the purposes of subclause (1), a radiation source is out of control if the source is not safely secured (including where it is stolen or lost) or shielded, or contamination is not confined and requires the activation of contingency plans to confine the radiation source or otherwise bring it under control.

        (3)         In this clause—

radiation source means a radiation source that is required to be registered under the Act.