What's New?
•	NRC Grants to HPS Education Institutions for Student Scholarships/Fellowships and Faculty Development now open until 25 Feb 2009
•	NRC Grant to HPS Education Institutions Now Open Until 22 Jan 2009
•	January Journal
•	January Newsletter
•	AAPM Now Accepting Applications for Student Summer Programs

Upcoming Events
•	HPS Midyear Meeting Recent Advances in Planning and Response to Radiation Emergencies 31 January - 3 February 2009 San Antonio, Texas
•	54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society 12-16 July 2009 Minneapolis, Minnesota
•	2009 Professional Development School NORM and TENORM 16-18 July 2009 Minneapolis, Minnesota

07 January 2009

Answer to Question #106 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Radiation Safety Careers — Radiation Safety Officers (RSOs)

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

What are the requirements for a health physicist to be a radiation safety officer (RSO)?

A specific reference to training requirements for radiation safety officers (RSOs) is given in Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 35 - Medical Use of Byproduct Material, Subpart J - "Training and Experience Requirements." A summary of these requirements are on our HPS Web site.

Part 35.900 specifies that the RSO be an individual who (a) is certified by the American Board of Health Physics in comprehensive health physics or the American Board of Radiology, etc. or (b) has 200 hours of specified classroom and laboratory training plus one year of full-time experience at a medical institution under the supervision of an RSO or (c) is an Authorized User on an NRC licensee's license. This could be taken as a guideline for the requirements of an RSO. More details on requirements for becoming an RSO are given in Management of Administration of Radiation Safety Programs, Charles E. Roessler, editor, 1998, Medical Physics Publishing, $40.95, in the chapter, "Radiation Safety Training," by Raymond H. Johnson, Jr., et al., pages 474 - 479.

Gen Roessler, Editor HPS Web Site

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