Radiation safety

General

The University has a responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to ensure that all work with radiation is carried out safely. In the Department of Physics and Astronomy the sources of potentially hazardous radiation at the present time are lasers, sealed radiation sources and neutron sources.

If you are uncertain about procedures, operation or practices, please seek advice from:

John McMillan (room D36a, phone 23534, general and ionising radiation)

Sasha Tartakovskii (room E24, phone 24545, lasers)

Courses run by Safety Services covering ionising radiation and laser radiation take place on a regular basis. All radiation workers within the Department must attend the appropriate course. Other members of staff and students are welcome to attend these courses to enhance their knowledge of safety. Please book in advance through Sasha Tartakovskii.

Lasers

Radiation safety of laser products is covered by BS EN 60825-1 which is a `euronorm´ based on the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 825.

Guidance Notes for laser safety within the University

All lasers and laser systems except low-power Class 1 lasers must be registered with Safety Services. All people intending to work with Class 3 lasers and above must register with Safety Services via the Departmental Laser Supervisor (DLS, see below), and undergo training to become an Authorised Laser User. The use of all Class 3B and Class 4 lasers must be covered by schemes of work. These should be written by the person responsible for the use of the laser and copies forwarded to the DLS.

Good laboratory practice must be adhered to at all times. When using Class 3B and Class 4 devices as much of the beam paths as reasonably practicable should be boxed in. Safety devices must not be removed or bypassed for any reason. Whenever there is access to open beam paths, involving Class 3B and Class 4 lasers, all personnel present in the room must be provided with, and wear, suitable eye protection.

If work is necessary which involves removing or overriding the protective devices on the apparatus (e.g. for alignment etc) this must not be undertaken without consultation of the relevant scheme of work which will highlight the designated personnel and correct procedures to perform this hazardous task. Under no other circumstances should an attempt be made to carry out this operation.

Sasha Tartakovskii (room E24, phone 24545) can offer further advice about laser safety.

Ionising radiations

The use of radioactive materials, X-ray equipment and any other source of ionising radiation is regulated by the Radioactive Substances Act 1993, the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 and associated Codes of Practice and Guidance Notes.

A set of laboratory rules for radioactive sealed sources are displayed in each laboratory which uses sealed sources. These rules must be read prior to using any radioactive materials.

All personnel wishing to use radioactive sealed sources or work on X-ray machines must, before commencing any work, first register as a radiation worker, A RPS/IR/3 registration form, obtained from Richard Nicholson must be filled in and returned to him for processing through Safety Services. After registration you will receive a radiation badge which must be worn when working in any designated radiation area. This badge will be exchanged every 3 months for analysis. Richard will send out an e-mail when this period occurs.

Strict record keeping is necessary to satisfy our Safety Services Department and ultimately the Environment Agency (the controlling body for ionising radiation). Details of the use / whereabouts / monitoring of isotopes must be recorded in the special A4 ringbinder labelled Store Records for Radioactive Sealed Sources which is associated with each laboratory and isotope store. Written details of these procedures are highlighted within the same folder.

Anyone involved in the transport of radioactive materials needs to be aware of the requirements of the Radioactive Material (Road Transport) (Great Britain) Regulations 1996, and, if they are transporting 'labelled packages', the requirements of The Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (Driver Training) Regulations 1996. If you need to transport (an) isotope(s) to another establishment you may require special documentation, transportation container(s), and display notices. Please see Alan Bateman several days in advance.

NB. It is an offence to transport isotopes without the aforementioned conditions.

If you experience any problems with the use or monitoring of sealed sources please contact John McMillan (D36a, phone 23534).