Abstract: “Measurement of lead equivalent thickness of personal protective equipment (PPE) is important to carry out at least at the commissioning stage in order to verify the compliance of the equipment with the standard regulations of Malaysian Standard (MS) 838, IAEA Safety Series No.115 and IEC 61331. In this study, a gauge for measuring lead equivalent thickness of PPEs such as lead apron, thyroid shield, ovary shield and gonad shield was designed and fabricated. The gauge consists of supporting frame to accommodate a 241Am radioactive source, scintillation detector and PPEs; and a survey meter connected to Ludlum software for data logging. The standard calibration curve for estimating the lead equivalent thickness of PPEs was established using 241Am radioactive source. The curve was determined based on the most reliable results acquired from various measurements set-up including multiple sizes of collimator and different source-detector distance (SDD) for the lead thickness from 0 mm to 5 m”

Keywords: lead equivalent thickness, personal protective equipment, thickness gauge