Events Reporting: Nuclear Medicine
2018
Dose limit exceedance for a Nuclear Energy Worker Windsor Regional Hospital Ouellette Campus, Windsor, Ontario
Date of event: February 13, 2017
On February 13, 2017, Windsor Regional Hospital reported to the CNSC, as required, of the contamination of the wrist of a hospital technologist, who is also categorized as a nuclear energy worker (NEW). The licensee has now calculated the maximum dose to the skin of the right wrist as 3.6 Sv (3,600 mSv), which exceeds the regulatory dose limit of 500 mSv per year for a dose to hands. The cause was determined to be a loose syringe shield that had not been tightened adequately on the syringe. Although the NEW wore gloves and a long-sleeved lab coat with elastic cuffs, the syringe shield slipped in the worker’s left hand and squirted Tc-99m onto the skin of the worker’s right wrist. On March 6, 2018, the licensee, working with the CNSC Radiation Protection Division, validated the dose reconstruction.
The technologist remains employed by the hospital, but has been removed from work that could contribute to further radiation exposure.
The actions taken by the licensee to prevent recurrence are acceptable to CNSC staff.
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