Association of University Radiation Protection Officers
HERT Working Group for Radiation Safety Culture
Radiation Safety Culture (RSC) for Higher Education, Research and Teaching (HERT)
AURPO is one of the The Society for Radiological Protection (SRP) partner societies, SRP being the UK’s Associate society to the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA).
In 2014 IRPA published a document on Guiding Principles for Establishing a Radiation Safety Culture, that aims to to help equip radiation protection professionals to promote a successful RP culture in their organisation, an excerpt of which is given below.
The IRPA Guiding Principles for Radiation Protection Professionals on Stakeholder Engagement
Radiological Protection Professionals should endeavour to:
Identify opportunities for engagement and ensure the level of engagement is proportional to the nature of the radiation protection issues and their context.
Initiate the process as early as possible, and develop a sustainable implementation plan.
Enable an open, inclusive and transparent stakeholder engagement process.
Seek out and involve relevant stakeholders and experts.
Ensure that the roles and responsibilities of all participants, and the rules for cooperation are clearly defined.
Collectively develop objectives for the stakeholder engagement process, based on a shared understanding of issues and boundaries.
Develop a culture which values a shared language and understanding, and favours collective learning.
Respect and value the expression of different perspectives.
Ensure a regular feedback mechanism is in place to inform and improve current and future stakeholder engagement processes.
Apply the IRPA Code of Ethics in their actions within these processes to the best of their knowledge.
Radiation Safety Culture Working Groups
Since then, one of SRP’s Goals has been to “promote a strong Radiation Protection Culture in the UK” and five Working Groups have been setup to develop and implement work programmes:
Co-ordinating Working Group
Medical
Higher Education, Research & Teaching (HERT)
Nuclear
General Users
The HERT Working Group
AURPO is leading the HERT Working Group (WG) on Radiation Safety Culture (RSC) and has been undertaking work to look at RSC within the HERT sector.
What Constitutes a Good Approach to Radiation Safety Culture?
10 Points for Radiation Safety Culture in the HERT Sector
The following points could be used to incorporate suitable questions into general inspection regimes, to develop metrics for inclusion in Standards, and to input into training at all levels. Each ‘Culture factor’ has a number of suggested performance indicators that might be used to assess it.
Appropriate radiation safety training/qualifications are included in relevant job descriptions
Induction training contains appropriate level of radiation safety training – including general awareness training for non-radiation workers
Radiation workers and individuals with recognised roles under any radiation legislation have documented update training at specified intervals
Evidence that training complies with best practice guidelines if/when available from professional bodies
There exists a programme of appropriate refresher training at specific time intervals e.g. every 3 to 5 years
Regular audit / inspection of radiation safety procedures / practicesShow More
Schedule of in-house audits including internal compliance audits with Local Rules and legislation
Schedule of in-house inspections of radiation facilities and practices
Review of recent audit results of Local Rules and legislative compliance
Review of recent inspection results and legislative compliance
Schedule of RP audits by ‘independent’ RPE or other suitable recognised expert including a review of the top level policies and procedures and how they match against sector best practice and/or legislative requirements.
Appropriate management of radioactive materials and radiation generating equipmentShow More
Documented management system in place
Evidence of equipment replacement programme
Evidence of Service/Maintenance contracts
Evidence of QA (both equipment & standard operating procedures)
Evidence of action on QA results
Evidence of audit of RAM policy & procedures
Disposal records
Compliance with Permits or equivalent RSA compliance schedules
Non-compliance notices from external inspections recorded and made available on company/university intranet.
Documented use of appropriate guidelines
Evidence of culture where by staff/students are given the authority to challenge inappropriate actions and stop using ionising radiation where they feel it is unsafe.
Appropriate appointment & use of Recognised Experts & OfficersShow More
Policy level statement of their appointment and proper consultation with them
Evidence of appointment of suitable numbers of qualified RPA/RWA/MPE
Evidence of Action following reports from Experts
Evidence of appointment of Radiation Protection Committee
Appointment of suitable number of Radiation Protection Supervisors
RP issues are on agenda of staff meetings – ‘learning from experience’ is shared
Staff have access to managers to raise concerns
Staff have access to union safety officers to raise concerns
Staff have access to ‘mentors/guardians’ to raise concerns
Management and advisers regularly communicate RP performance to relevant staff
Radiation safety newsletter for all staff – to which staff can contribute
Good practice is proactively shared and celebrated
A system is in place to ensure effective communication with external employers e.g. suppliers of outside workers or host organisations.
Social media (Twitter) usage to share opinions and feedback on radiation safety issues as long as such communications do not conflict with matters of security
Members of staff are encouraged to join relevant radiation-related professional societies
Current Work
Of particular interest is the development of tools which can be used to measure the current state of RSC and develop it in a positive direction.
As part of this, a brief online survey was disseminated to all ionising radiation and non-ionising radiation stakeholders in the HERT sector. The results have been analysed and a presentation was delivered to the IRPA European Congress in The Hague, Netherlands, in June 2018.
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