A quality assurance system for personal monitoring in Ireland: experience to date and transition from EN 45001 to ISO/IEC 17025

Up to 2000 the RPII was the competent authority for approval of dosimetry services operating within Ireland. However the transposition into Irish Law of Council Directive 96/29 Euratom in May 2000 means that dosimetry services operating in Ireland must now attain accreditation to the standard of EN-45001 or its equivalent. To comply with this new legislation the RPII sought accreditation for the Dosimetry Service from the Irish National Accreditation Board (NAB). In accordance with the EN-45000 series of European Standards and the relevant ISO guides NAB tests accuracy of results and accredits organisations as appropriate. In September 2000 accreditation was granted to the Dosimetry Service for individual monitoring of personnel who are occupationally exposed to ionising radiation. The scope of the accreditation covers the evaluation of personal doses, for photon and beta, using TLD. Frequent internal quality audits, together with periodic inter-laboratory test programmes, ensure that these quality standards are maintained. This accreditation fulfils the approval under legislation for dosimetry services. The new standard, ISO/IEC 17025, was introduced by ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) in 1999. This standard was introduced in Ireland by NAB and will be implemented for future assessments. The aim of this paper is to describe the quality system currently operated by the RPII's Dosimetry Service, our practical experience to date, and to outline the transition from EN-45001 to ISO/IEC 17025