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X-Ray Facility Plan Review
Chapter
246-225 Washington Administrative
Code (WAC) - Regulations for Radiation Protection - requires
that new, remodeled or re-located medical X-ray facilities submit shielding calculations
before construction begins, or before the X-ray machine is moved. This is to ensure that
adequate lead is installed in the walls, floor, ceiling and/or operator's booth, so that
the public, other staff and the X-ray operator are afforded protection from the primary
beam and secondary radiation. Look up these requirements in your copy of the WAC or call
1-800-299-XRAY for a copy. The following sequence of events should take place:
- Plan Review
- Installation, Registration and Fees
- Inspection
Other topics of interest:
Plan Review
Work with your architect, contractor, or X-ray assembler to hire a qualified
expert to perform the shielding calculations. You will need to provide
information on projected workload, techniques to be used, exam types to be done,
layout of room, occupancy of adjacent space, etc. Click on the link above or
call our Olympia office at 1-800-299-9729 for a
list of qualified experts. You should contact several experts on the list to see how much
they charge and when they can do the calculations for you. When complete, the floor plan
and shielding calculations are sent to us for review along with an information cover sheet
provided in the X-Ray Shielding Plan Review
Procedure package. These documents must be sent to DOH-XRAY,
PO Box 47827, Olympia WA 98504-7827. Without the cover sheet and appropriate
plan review fees the plans will be returned to sender. If the plans meet
shielding requirements, we send an acceptance letter to you. Installation
of the X-ray equipment cannot begin until after you have received the approval
letter from our office. There is a $656 late fee if plans are not done, or
are not reviewed and approved before X-ray machine operation.
Installation,
Registration and Fees
When your X-ray machine is installed (or moved) the assembler is required to
send us a Report of Assembly. Other copies of this report go to you and
the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. When we receive this report, we then match
it with the shielding calculations and the floor plan. You must then
submit a Registration Application Package (for new
facilities only) and any appropriate fees to the
Department of Licensing (DOL).
Fees are charged based upon the type of practice (medical, dental,
veterinary, industrial, etc.) and number and type of X-ray machines. Every year
thereafter, your facility will be billed through DOL for re-registration. There is no additional fee
for routine inspections.
Inspection
The final step in this process is the inspection done by one of our Radiation Health
Physicists who will call you and make an appointment. The facility floor plan and
shielding will be verified against the plan submitted, and the X-ray machine will be
tested to ensure that it is performing according to standards found in
WAC 246-225;
additional tests may be performed to determine compliance with FDA standards.
Exemptions
Note that diagnostic veterinary, podiatric and dental facilities are exempt from
submitting shielding calculations and floor plans, but the radiation safety standards in
WAC 246-225 must be followed. For dental and podiatric facilities, these
standards include the requirement for a proper exposure switch/button placement
(permanently mounted in a protected area), and for podiatric and dental extra-oral
(cephalometric or panoramic) systems, a means of viewing the patient during the exposure
(plate glass window or mirror). For dental cephalometric and podiatric facilities, primary
beam shielding should be considered if the primary beam is directed toward occupied areas. We would be glad to provide a courtesy review of any floor plans for dental, veterinary or
podiatric X-ray facilities.
Lead (Pb)
In the past, some practitioners have wondered if they could avoid the requirement for
having shielding calculations done and simply install 4-pound lead behind the vertical
cassette holder and 2-pound lead everywhere else. The answer is "No," because in
some cases it would be inadequate, and in other cases they would be spending more money on
lead than necessary; the cost of the qualified expert's work would be less than the cost
of lead.
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