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Plenarias
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON OCCUPATIONAL RADIATION
PROTECTION: ENHANCING THE PROTECTION OF WORKERS –
GAPS, CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENTS
Ma, J.
1
; Colgan, P.A.
2
*
1
Occupational Radiation Protection Unit, International Atomic Energy Agency.
2
Radiation Protection Unit, International Atomic Energy Agency.
* Presenting author, email: T.Colgan@iaea.org
The Conference, which was cosponsored by the International Labour Organization and
organized in cooperation with 15 International Organizations, was held at the IAEA
Headquarters from 1-5 December 2014 and attracted over 470 participants from 79 Member
States and 21 International Organizations. The presentations and posters addressed all aspects
of occupational radiation protection in industry and medicine, including the protection of
pregnant workers and itinerant workers. Issues such as safety culture, education and training
and health surveillance were also discussed.
The Conference reviewed the international safety framework for protecting workers and agreed
that it is well established and effective. However, in some areas, such as medicine and work
involving exposure to elevated levels of naturally occurring radiation, new challenges that have
emerged need to be addressed. For example, higher occupational exposures are occurring in
medical practices such as interventional radiology and interventional cardiology, while in some
underground industries workers can be exposed to high radiation doses from natural radiation
sources that are not subject to regulatory control.
It was agreed that radiation protection needs to be managed as an integrated part of the
general health and safety protection of workers. Workers may face a wide range of occupational
hazards and unduly protecting against only one or a few hazards may be detrimental to overall
occupational safety and health. In all workplaces, the application of radiation protection
measures must be examined within the context of the complexity of all foreseeable hazards in
workplaces.
The Conference identified nine key areas for follow-up and provided a forum for enhancing the
protection of workers in the future. It is important to continuously improve the implementation of
the existing international standards through initiatives such as outreach to those Member States
with less developed programmes, enhanced education and training programmes, promoting
exchange of operational experience in high-exposure settings, developing young professionals
in the more general issues of radiation protection and addressing occupational exposure to
natural radiation sources.