Health Physics Questions and Answers - Question 31

Question 31: Are students and volunteers subject to the occupational dose limits? For example, nuclear medicine students, or "candy stripers" that transport nuclear medicine patients or perform volunteer work in a nuclear medicine department.

Answer: Occupational dose is defined in revised Part 20 as "the dose received by an individual in a restricted area or in the course of employment in which the individual's assigned duties involve exposure to radiation . . ." In the question above, the individual's assigned duties do involve exposure to radiation as a necessary feature of those duties; therefore, the students and volunteer are subject to the occupational dose limits.

(Reference: 10 CFR 20.1003, 10 CFR 20.1201)