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Legislation

The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR 1999)

The full text of the regulations is available from the HMSO site, SI 1999 No. 3232, ISBN 0110856147, £7.30.

The full text of the Approved Code of Practice and the Regulations are available from the HSE, and are also in print as Work with Ionising Radiation, from HSE Books, reference L121, ISBN 0717617467, £20.

The HSE Ionising Radiation website is very useful. They have published two certificates of generic authorisation (GA), covering certain uses of X-ray machines and accelerators (other than electron microscopes). Various HSE Information Sheets are available, including:

The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000 (IRMER 2000)

The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2000, SI 2000 No. 1059, ISBN 0110991311, £3.

IRMER Guidance Notes can be found at the Dept of Health Site.

The Department of Health has two working groups which will report later this year on "training" and "diagnostic reference levels". There is also likely to be some guidance on self-referral and on the implications for those who undertake calibration and maintenance of x-ray equipment.

Medical and Dental Guidance Notes (MDGN)

The Medical and Dental Guidance Notes are available from the IPEM. They replace the 1998 Guidance Notes and cover both the IRR 1999 and IRMER 2000. The MDGN is a good practice guide to the implementation of ionising radiation protection legislation in the clinical environment.

Advice

BIR - The British Institute of Radiology

EA - The Environment Agency

HPA - The Health Protection Agency - Radiation Protection Division (formerly NRPB)

HSE - The Health and Safety Executive

IPEM - The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine

NPL - The National Physical Laboratory

RCR - The Royal College of Radiologists

SRP - The Society for Radiological Protection

The European Guidelines on Quality Criteria for Computed Tomography, including information on reference doses, are available from the Danish Society of Radiology.

Radiation Exposure of the UK Population from Medical and Dental X-ray Examinations, report NRPB-W4 is available on the HPA (NRPB) website.