Risk analysis in radiotherapy

Abstract

As a consequence of the Épinal and Toulouse accidents detected in 2006 and 2007 respectively, radiological protection became a major and critical concern for all actors. Thus, the regulation regarding the management of risk in radiation therapy was updated. In the absence of a specific method of analysis of medical risks, methods developed by engineers were transposed in radiotherapy. The FMEA method (failure mode and effects analysis) has been adopted by the French nuclear safety authority (ASN) for the risk evaluation in external radiotherapy. But the application of FMEA to radiation therapy has shown intrinsic difficulties similar to those encountered in other domains. This article, resulting from a research in ergonomics in the domain of risk management and patient security, makes the point on the strengths and weaknesses of FMEA.