Medical supervision of radiation workers

Codes of Practice for persons working with ionising radiations usually incorporate requirements for medical supervision, including a pre-employment medical examination with chest X-ray and full blood count. Further medical examinations are not usually required if dose monitoring confirms that exposure is below the limit for non-radiation workers (1·5 rems per year). In fact, of course, if one can be certain that exposure is below this level, the person need not be designated in the first place, and so the requirement for medical supervision avoided. But the possibility of radioactive contamination may make it difficult to avoid designation of staff working with unsealed radio-isotopes, and certainly most organisations tend to insist on such medical examinations "to be on the safe side".