The Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017

Restriction of exposure

9.—(1) Every employer must, in relation to any work with ionising radiation that it undertakes, take all necessary steps to restrict so far as is reasonably practicable the extent to which its employees and other persons are exposed to ionising radiation.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), an employer in relation to any work with ionising radiation that it undertakes must—

(a) so far as is reasonably practicable achieve the restriction of exposure to ionising radiation required under paragraph (1) by means of engineering controls, design features and by the provision and use of safety features and warning devices;

(b) provide such systems of work as will, so far as is reasonably practicable, restrict the exposure to ionising radiation of employees and other persons; and

(c) where it is reasonably practicable to further restrict exposure to ionising radiation by means of personal protective equipment, provide employees or other persons with adequate and suitable personal protective equipment (including respiratory protective equipment) unless the use of personal protective equipment of a particular kind is not appropriate having regard to the nature of the work or the circumstances of the particular case.

(3) An employer who provides any system of work or personal protective equipment pursuant to this regulation must take all reasonable steps to ensure that it is properly used or applied as the case may be.

(4) Where it is appropriate to do so at the planning stage of radiation protection, an employer, in relation to any work with ionising radiation that it undertakes, must use dose constraints in restricting exposure to ionising radiation pursuant to paragraph (1).

(5) An employer must establish the dose constraints referred to in paragraph (4) in terms of the effective or equivalent dose received by an individual over an appropriate period of time.

(6) Without prejudice to paragraph (1), an employer who undertakes work with ionising radiation must ensure that—

(a) in relation to an employee who is pregnant, the conditions of exposure are such that, after the employee’s employer has been notified of the pregnancy, the equivalent dose to the foetus is as low as is reasonably practicable and is unlikely to exceed 1 mSv during the remainder of the pregnancy; and

(b) in relation to an employee who is breastfeeding, that employee must not be engaged in any work involving a significant risk of intake of radionuclides or of bodily contamination.

(7) Nothing in paragraph (6) requires the employer who undertakes work with ionising radiation to take any action in relation to an employee until that employee’s employer has been notified in writing by the employee of the pregnancy or that the employee is breastfeeding and the employer who is undertaking the work with ionising radiation has been made aware, or should reasonably have been expected to be aware, of that notification.

(8) Every employer must, for the purpose of determining whether the requirements of paragraph (1) are being met, ensure that an investigation is carried out without delay when the effective dose of ionising radiation received by any of its employees for the first time in any calendar year exceeds 15 mSv or such other lower effective dose as the employer may specify, which dose must be specified in writing in local rules made pursuant to regulation 18(1) or, where local rules are not required, by other suitable means.