Registration of radiation workers

How to register a new radiation worker is changing in Trinity Term 2024

The paper based registration form will be replaced with a new online form.

More details will follow or you can contact your department SRPS or the project team at rmp@it.ox.ac.uk for more information.

 

Registration is the process that authorises a person to work with ionising radiation.

A form must be completed stating who the person is, identify what they will work with and where they intend to work.

After registration to work with ionising radiation, the worker must also attend a suitable training course.

Except for a limited number of work practices, every person who intends to work with ionising radiation must be registered.

No persons other than registered radiation workers are permitted to undertake such work.

 

DONWLOAD THE REGISTRATION FORM

Guidance on completing the registration form

This section should be completed by the applicant

 

Employing department: applicants should name their principal pay department, irrespective of whether they will actually be undertaking work with radiation in that department. The Safety Office will be required to communicate health and safety information to that department from time to time; for example confirmation of registration and attendance at requisite training sessions.

Academic supervisor or line manager: the name of the worker’s direct academic supervisor or line manager must be included in the application. The form will also require their countersignature to confirm that the request to be registered as a radiation worker is justified  i.e. that the proposed work by the particular applicant is considered to be of benefit and is compatible with the research or teaching interests of the department.

Classified persons: classified persons are those persons who may receive more significant radiation exposures (more than 3/10ths of any legal dose limit e.g. 6 mSv body dose or 150 mSv extremity dose) and should therefore be subject to more stringent radiation safety controls. Such controls include routine medical surveillance carried out by the University’s appointed doctor. All classified persons are required to be appointed in writing by their employer. Therefore, unless an applicant has received such a written appointment, they are not a classified person. Only a very small number of University activities would warrant the classification of workers, but departments must enquire of the status (classified or not?) of any visitor or collaborator intending to work with ionising radiation on Oxford University premises.

Notice to ionising radiation workers: the University is required to inform every radiation worker of the potential hazards and risks posed by their work with ionising radiation. The University achieves this by the provision of compulsory radiation safety information, instruction and training and by requiring every registering radiation worker to sign the sign the declaration on the registration form.

Declaration: by signing the declaration in section 1 of the form, the worker is confirming that they have been made aware of and understand the risks they face during work with ionising radiation, and also that they agree to comply fully with University radiation protection measures and legal requirements.

 

Having completed and signed section 1 of the form, the applicant should pass the form to the Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS) in the department where the work with ionising radiation will take place.

This section of the form should be completed by the Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS)

The RPS should have responsibility for supervising the work to which this registration relates, accepting that this may be in another department

 

If the worker will be supervised by more than one RPS (eg an x-ray RPS and an open source RPS) within the same department, each RPS should sign against the declaration at the bottom of Section 2 and each should initial against the ticked work category for which they are personally responsible.

Applications for registration relating to work on a non-University premises should be completed by the applicant and countersigned by the Senior Radiation Protection Supervisor (SRPS) in their own department, where one is appointed. Where no SRPS is appointed in the employing department (i.e. if the employing department does not undertake any work with ionising radiation), Section 2 of the form should be signed by the Head of Department.

Name of host department: the name of department or institution in which work with ionising radiation will be undertaken should be inserted. A separate registration form must be completed for every University department in which an applicant intends to work with ionising radiation. This is because the declarations in Sections 2 and 4 relate to the radiation protection arrangements in that department.

Please specify isotopes: where the form demands details of the specific isotopes to be used, only those isotopes should be listed. If additional isotopes are required in future, they can simply be added to an existing registration on receipt by the Safety Office of an email from or via the departmental SRPS, detailing that the named individual should be additionally registered for further specific isotopes.

Particle accelerators - please specify location: the actual particle accelerators to be visited should be declared (eg CERN, ILL, Diamond etc.). Additional institutions may be added to an existing registration at a later date on receipt by the Safety Office of an email detailing the extra premises.

Other device working at more than 5kV and emitting x-rays adventitiously: where a registration relates to work with high voltage equipment, other than x-ray sets or electron microscopes, further details are requested in Section 3 of the form.

Declaration: by signing the declaration in section 2 of the form, the RPS is agreeing to ensure that the registering person has been provided with requisite training (including the core of knowledge; relevant training modules; and any department specific and task related training) prior to commencing work. See further comments above relating to multiple RPSs.

 

Having completed and signed section 2 of the form, the RPS completes section 3 (if required) before passing the form to the SRPS in the department where the work with ionising radiation will take place.

This section should be completed by the Radiation Protection Supervisor or Senior Radiation Protection Supervisor

 

Section 3 of the form need only be completed when explicitly required by Section 2 or where the applicant or department consider that further information is required on the precise details of the work to be undertaken. 

Typically, this section should be completed where non-standard equipment will be used to provide the University Radiation Protection Officer with details of the radiation hazard and any inherent safety systems to restrict the exposures of the applicant.

This section should be completed by the Senior Radiation Protection Supervisor (SRPS)

By signing and dating the declaration in Section 4 they accept the applicant as a radiation worker in their department and agree to ensure that local supervisory arrangements are adequate to comply with university and legal requirements

 

The completed form should be sent to the University Safety Office and a further copy retained within the department.

Completing the registration process

On receipt of completed application forms, the Safety Office will register the applicant as a radiation worker. The following email notifications will be made:

  • email confirmation to the applicant of their successful registration - the email will include details of forthcoming Safety Office radiation safety training sessions
  • email to the SRPS in the department where work will be undertaken informing them of applicant’s registration as a radiation worker
  • email to the Head of the applicant’s own department, informing them of the applicant’s registration as a radiation worker

Once the registration process is completed, before work with ionising radiation commences, the department must ensure that the requirements of the University Safety Policy S1/12 - Ionising Radiation have been satisfied and that departmental radiation protection measures are sufficient to achieve the necessary exposure restriction.

Maintenance and update of radiation worker details

Further to the continuous process of updating details on the radiation worker database, at the start of each year the Safety Office will send the SRPS of every department the latest list of radiation workers registered for work within their department. This should prompt the department to review this list with the assistance of the registered individuals and to inform the Safety Office of any changes. Changes should be notified by annotation and return of the supplied list. This procedure allows the Safety Office to maintain accurate records of all radiation workers at the University.

Previously registered workers

Individuals who have previously been registered but have subsequently been removed from the Safety Office’s database of radiation workers (for any reason) must complete an entirely new registration card to re-register, unless:

  • the de-registration was within the previous 12 months
  • there has been no change in the applicant’s details or registration requirements, including their academic or radiation protection supervisors

If there has been no change, the registered status of the individual can be reinstated by email to the Safety Office from the SRPS of the individual’s host department i.e. the department where the work with ionising radiation takes place.