Radiation safety requirements for training of users of diagnostic X-ray equipment in South Africa

Abstract

Having provided an international perspective, it is important to consider the local scenario. The South African (SA) Department of Health (DoH) accepted the recommendations of the ICRP and regulates radiation protection within the framework of the Hazardous Substances Act No. 15Background. Globally, the aim of requirements regarding the use and ownership of diagnostic medical X-ray equipment is to limit radiation by abiding by the 'as low as reasonably achievable' (ALARA) principle. The ignorance of radiographers with regard to radiation safety requirements, however, is currently a cause of concern. The enhancement of the 4-year radiography curriculum leading to a Bachelor's qualification provides an opportunity to explore the training and assessment to meet, among others, the ALARA principle, which addresses national and international concerns and criteria. Healthcare workers outside the scope of radiography, who are also considered radiation workers, may be even more ignorant and are therefore also implicated. The process of investigation included a contextualisation of the available regulation documents, the Delphi technique to determine the content of the training, and a questionnaire to test students' knowledge before and after training. Objectives. To determine the content of the radiation safety requirements training and assessment to implement standardised teaching, learning activities and assessment to prepare radiographers as radiation workers well trained for practice. Methods. The content of the radiation safety requirements training was determined with the Delphi technique. Results. Consensus regarding the content of the radiography students' training was reached and implemented. Furthermore, it guided the development of teaching and learning activities complemented by aligned assessment. Conclusion. Standardised education and assessment for radiation safety requirements have the potential to ensure that radiation safety regulations are implemented optimally in diagnostic imaging. This open-access article is distributed under Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0. Afr J Health Professions Educ

Design-based research for the development of a flexible learning environment

“…Specific comments confirmed the importance to record evidence of mastery of content by means of assessment. The importance of distributing the workload between the years of study and repetition to provide students with the opportunity to reach a high level of understanding was emphasised (Van der Merwe et al 2017).…”

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CUT) as radiation workers. Therefore, the content and assessment of a course for radiation safety regulations were investigated and determined by a panel of experts in the field using a Delphi process (Van der Merwe 2015). The course was divided into learning units and included in the new bachelor's degree at the CUT, with the first roll-out of the first year in 2014.

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South African radiographers’ radiation protection practices, a qualitative study

“…However, despite radiation protection inclusion throughout South African radiography education curricula 1 and being mandated, there is testament to contrary clinical practices in South Africa. 2,3 The Health Professions Act, 1974 (act no. 56 of 1974) 4 defines radiation protection as: "the application of radiation protection measures and techniques to minimise radiation exposure to patients, staff, self, and the public in accordance with the rules, regulations, and recommendations of the Radiation Control Directorate of the National Department of Health in South Africa and to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of staff."…”

Using the theory of planned behaviour to determine radiation protection among South African diagnostic radiographers: a cross‐sectional survey

“…Other studies in Gauteng, South Africa, revealed that only 33% of radiographers knew the function of exposure indicators 8 and a quarter of patients received more radiation exposure than was necessary to produce a diagnostic radiograph 9 . However, the reasons for South African radiographers’ radiation protection behaviour remains largely unexplored 7,8,10–12 . The theory of planned behaviour posits that behaviour depends mostly on the intention to perform a behaviour 13 .…”