There are two divisions at the San Diego County Health Department which affect dental offices.  The first deals with biomedical waste.  This includes sharps, medical solid waste, pharmaceutical waste, and biohazardous waste.  It also includes all other waste streams from the dental office; both chemical which require disposal, (fixer), and recycled waste (lead foil, batteries).

The second division deals with radiation safety. They now require dental offices to have a Radiation Safety & Prevention Program(RSS) which must be updated on an annual basis. Employees are required to be trained each year on the safe use of x-ray equipment as well as a review of the exposure to monitoring devices (dosimeters).

This is included in our annual update with on-site training as part of "Client Services". The following guidelines are are to assist other offices to develop their own RSS plans according to the San Diego County Health Department requirements.