ALARA ... and the "Square Law Principle"!

Assuming we are talking about equipment servicing and (or) tech support (rather than actually operating the kit day in, day out, as a radiographer); I reckon there is something to be said for doing without any form of protective clothing!

That way the mind tends to become focused on how to proceed without putting yourself at any sort of radiation risk. If you pause to think about it at every stage, there are usually ways of doing that.

Just limit your exposures to the exposures (as it were)! Although flouroscopy can sometimes present a few problems, I'll admit. But keeping the collimator (LBD) closed is a good start!

One of the techniques that I always liked to adopt was to invariably stand behind the protective mass (impressive bulk) of my dear friend Nurse Diesel before pressing the "expose" button. smile

Anyway, once we get to the stage of being grand-parents, and assuming that our fingers haven't yet fallen off - what are we really worried about? To put things into perspective, many folk who have served in the armed forces may well have already received a life-time dose in excess of what is "allowed" in medical practice (usually blissfully unaware, I might add). frown

And those who have spent any time in certain parts of the world (Aberdeen comes to mind) would have already copped a decent dose of rads as well (due to naturally occuring background radiation).

Anyway Robert, what about your silver suit? Don't tell me you've worn it out already!

PS: before all the "complaints" start rolling in - some (most) of this post was "tongue in cheek"!