On 09.03.2023, an employee of a company carried out a weld inspection using an X-ray device. To align a workpiece to be tested, the worker left his workstation disregarding the radiation protection warning measures, which consist of a barrier rope, a flashing warning light and the warning signal of a radiation protection dosimeter which measured the local dose rate. The workers head came into the beam of the X-ray device in operation for a duration of about 2 minutes. An effective whole body dose, an equivalent dose for the lens, and an equivalent dose for the skin were estimated based on a reconstruction of the likely scenario. The effective whole body dose was set to 230 mSv and the equivalent dose for the lens of the eye was set to 546 mSv by the authority. An expert inspection of the X-ray device determined that the equipment was technically in order. The cause of the incident was determined to be human error.
Location: Lower Saxony / Company for Material Testing Event date: Thu, 09-03-2023
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