UK implementation of the BSS Directive Wendy Bines Health and Safety Executive London (3rd EC/ISOE Workshop, Portoroz, April 2002)

Legal interpretation in the UK Strict literal interpretation Courts have no scope for discretion, but guided by case law and precedence Regulators need to build in qualifications such as: Where appropriate So far as is reasonably practicable

Specific features for discussion Hierarchy of provisions Reasonably practicable IRR99: dose limits IRR99: investigation levels IRR99: criteria for recognition (dosimetry services and qualified experts) Enforcement tools

Hierarchy of provisions Regulations Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) Non-statutory guidance ACOP: Quasi-legal status Practical advice on how to comply with the law Guidance may illustrate good practice

Example The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99) regulation 11(1): “Subject to paragraph (2) and to paragraph 5 of Schedule 4, every employer shall ensure that his employees and other persons who are within a class specified in Schedule 4 are not exposed to ionising radiation to an extent that any dose limit specified in Part 1 of that Schedule for such a class of person is exceeded in any calendar year.”

Example cont. ACOP (for this regulation) – for the purpose of comparison with dose limits: Assessments of effective and equivalent dose - use values and relationships in Annex II of the BSS Directive Assessments of committed effective and equivalent dose - take account of likely 50 year accrued dose and attribute to calendar year of intake

Example cont. ACOP cont. – for assessment of compliance with dose limits for the public: Make realistic estimates of average effective (and, where relevant, equivalent) dose to representative members of appropriate reference group For expected pathways of exposure

Example cont. Guidance, on: Responsibility for ensuring compliance with dose limits (DLs) Demonstrating compliance with DLs Application of DLs to different classes of person Assessing dose to the skin Additional DL for women of reproductive capacity

Example cont. Disapplication of DLs for comforters and carers DLs for members of the public: exposure arising from patients undergoing medical diagnosis or treatment DLs for members of the public: other exposures Overexposures

Reasonably practicable UK equivalent of ‘reasonably achievable’ (ALARP rather than ALARA) Computation between the degree of risk and the cost (money/time/trouble) of avoiding it If gross disproportion between them, the risk being insignificant in relation to the cost - not reasonably practicable

IRR99: Investigation levels To be carried out when, for the first time in a year, an employee’s dose reaches: 15 mSv; or a lower level specified by the employer Purpose: to trigger a review of working conditions, to ensure that exposure is being restricted so far as is reasonably practicable Not a limit, but often treated as one

IRR99: dose limits Effective dose for an adult employee: 20 mSv in a calendar year Where justified, for individual, identified, employees: 100 mSv in five years, subject to conditions including: consultation, information, prior notice to HSE, max. 50 mSv in a single year, investigation if 20 mSv exceeded in a year

IRR99: criteria for recognition Approved Dosimetry Services (ADS): Requirements for the approval of dosimetry services under IRR99: Part 1 – external Part 2 – internal Part 3 – coordination and record-keeping Supplement – estimation of emergency exposures during intervention

IRR99: criteria for recognition Qualified experts = radiation protection advisers under IRR99 HSE Statement on radiation protection advisers – criteria for recognition of core competence Duty on employer to consult a suitable recognised radiation protection adviser

Enforcement tools To encourage compliance under health and safety legislation, including IRR99, inspectors may: Offer information and advice Serve Improvement or Prohibition Notice Issue formal caution Prosecute

Central Index of Dose Information: trends data

Conclusion The (well-established) system works effectively As shown by information from HSE's Central Index of Dose Information But never room for complacency