What device is used to monitor the effective dose received by radiation workers?

The personnel monitor is specifically designed to track and measure the amount of radiation exposure that individual workers receive over a designated period. These devices, which are often worn on the body, provide important data on accumulated doses, ensuring that radiation workers stay within safe exposure limits as determined by regulatory guidelines.

Personnel monitors can include devices like thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeters, or film badges. They provide crucial feedback not only for compliance with safety regulations but also for the personal health of the worker. By continuously or periodically assessing dose exposure, personnel monitors play a vital role in radiation safety protocols within workplaces that utilize ionizing radiation.

Survey monitors, geiger counters, and zone monitors, while useful for other aspects of radiation safety, are not designed to measure the dose received by an individual worker over time. Survey monitors help assess radiation levels in a given area, geiger counters detect and measure ionizing radiation in the environment, and zone monitors are used to establish and maintain safety zones based on radiation risk. These functions do not provide the personal exposure data that personnel monitors are designed to capture.