A beam loss monitoring (BLM) system for a linear accelerator (LINAC) and booster has been designed and implemented at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, which is under construction. It is a distributed system, constructed with 54 detectors, 11 data collectors, and a console personal computer. Several experiments were made at the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory to verify the performance of this system, and one comparison experiment with thermoluminescent dosimeters for dose rate measurement was also done. From preliminary experiments and commissioning, this BLM system is proving to be functional and a useful tool to study the machine status. Moreover, it is hoped that this can be developed into a new method to measure the radiation dose distribution around the LINAC and booster directly, which would help the shielding calculation for future facilities, although more quantitative experiments are needed.