Prevention of Accidental Exposure in Radiotherapy: The Risk Matrix Approach

ABSTRACTKnowledge and lessons from past accidental exposures in radiotherapy are very helpful in finding safety provisions to prevent recurrence. Disseminating lessons is necessary but not sufficient. There may be additional latent risks for other accidental exposures, which have not been reported o...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Health physics (1958) Vol. 104; no. 2; pp. 139 - 150
Main Authors:	Vilaragut, J.J, Duménigo, C, Delgado, J.M, Morales, J, McDonnell, J.D, Ferro, R, Ortiz López, P, Ramírez, M.L, Pérez Mulas, A, Papadopulos, S, Gonçalves, M, López Morones, R, Sánchez Cayuela, C, Cascajo Castresana, A, Somoano, F, Álvarez, C, Guillén, A, Rodríguez, M, Pereira, P.P, Nader, A
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Health Physics Society 01-02-2013 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
Subjects:	Accident prevention Environmental Exposure - prevention & control Health physics Human exposure Humans Likelihood Functions Matrix Patient Safety Probability Radiation therapy Radiotherapy - adverse effects Risk Assessment - methods
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	ABSTRACTKnowledge and lessons from past accidental exposures in radiotherapy are very helpful in finding safety provisions to prevent recurrence. Disseminating lessons is necessary but not sufficient. There may be additional latent risks for other accidental exposures, which have not been reported or have not occurred, but are possible and may occur in the future if not identified, analyzed, and prevented by safety provisions. Proactive methods are available for anticipating and quantifying risk from potential event sequences. In this work, proactive methods, successfully used in industry, have been adapted and used in radiotherapy. Risk matrix is a tool that can be used in individual hospitals to classify event sequences in levels of risk. As with any anticipative method, the risk matrix involves a systematic search for potential risks; that is, any situation that can cause an accidental exposure. The method contributes new insightsThe application of the risk matrix approach has identified that another group of less catastrophic but still severe single-patient events may have a higher probability, resulting in higher risk. The use of the risk matrix approach for safety assessment in individual hospitals would provide an opportunity for self-evaluation and managing the safety measures that are most suitable to the hospital’s own conditions.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:	0017-9078 1538-5159
DOI:	10.1097/HP.0b013e3182680379