Health Physics Questions and Answers - Question 371

Question 371: 10 CFR 20.2104 (c) (1) states that a licensee may accept, as a record of the occupational dose that the individual received during the current year, a written signed statement from the individual. If this was done and the statement is false, would a resulting exposure greater than 5 rem in the year be considered an overexposure and a violation?

Answer: The exposure would be an "overexposure" (an occupational dose in excess of the annual limit). However, as indicated in the statement of considerations for the revised Part 20 (56 FR 23384, first column) if the individual deliberately falsifies the statement, the licensee would not be penalized for a resulting overexposure. Furthermore, the staff believes that the licensee should not be penalized for false information provided by the individual even if the falsification was not deliberate. However, as indicated in Regulatory Guide 8.7, Rev. 1, although not required by the regulations, it is considered good health physics practice to verify the information on prior exposure provided by the individual. Such verifications should reduce the likelihood of overexposure resulting from false information on prior exposures. If an individual deliberately provides false information on the prior dose, that individual would be in potential violation of the revised regulations covering the "deliberate misconduct" (56 FR 40664, 8/15/91) that caused the licensee to be in violation of the regulatory limit.

(Reference: 10 CFR 20.2104)