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)