What we do

The Radiation Safety Section is responsible for all nonfederal, nontribal radiation machine and facility regulation in Michigan. This includes the following activities to help ensure compliance with Michigan's Ionizing Radiation Rules and applicable portions of the Public Health Code:

• annual registration of, and registration fee collection from, Michigan's 10,000 x-ray facilities with over 28,000 x-ray machines;
• specific authorization of radiation machines to be used for mammography prior to such use;
• inspection of any new mammography machine within 60 days of initial use or authorization to be used for mammography;
• annual inspections of each mammography machine and facility to determine compliance with the Ionizing Radiation Rules and statutory requirements for the approximately 330 mammography facilities in Michigan;
• annual MQSA mammography inspections performed in Michigan pursuant to an inspection contract with the Food & Drug Administration;
• periodic inspections of medical and nonmedical radiation machines and facilities, including medical and nonmedical high-energy accelerators;
• approval of private-sector mammography physicists who perform required annual consultations and evaluations of mammography systems;
• regulatory responsibility for the radiation machine aspects of PET cyclotrons, research cyclotrons, and other particle accelerators;
• approval of radiation shielding design for medical and nonmedical radiation machines and facilities;
• investigation of radiation incidents involving excessive radiation doses to workers and misadministrations of therapeutic x-ray, electron beam, or neutron beam radiation doses to patients.

Radioactive Material

The Radiation Safety Section is the state agency responsible for the registration and inspection of radiation machines and facilities. The responsibility for radioactive material lies with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.