Work begins to set up radiation control body |10 February 2010

Held in the training room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Mont Fleuri, the sessions are being led by Atnatiwos Zeleke Meshesha, the director for regulatory control in the Ethiopian Radiation Protection Authority.

The training, organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Human Resources Development, is catering for staff from a number of partners.

These include organisations or departments that work with radiation – although not always directly – such as Labour Inspection, the Health Services Agency, the Department of Risk and Disaster Management, the Seychelles Bureau of Standards, the Customs Division and the Fire Brigade.

Government officers responsible for drafting legislation are also taking part.
With both theoretical and practical sessions, the workshop has among its aims to help Seychelles set up its national radiation safety infrastructure to meet local requirements.

The topics include work on the legal framework, looking at radiation safety regulations, possession and use of radiation sources, emergency response, investigation and follow-up, and inspection exercises.

Keven Aglae, director of the IAEA unit in the employment ministry, said the workshop will also help to keep tabs on people working directly with radiation-emitting machines.

“We are aiming to be better able to monitor people working with and directly exposed to radiation, such as those working with sunlamps, medical and baggage X-ray machines, mammogram screening, radiotherapy and even in other fields like construction,” he said.

He added that the IAEA will give them certain equipment to work with, and the legislation they are working on will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval. It will state that all major radiation-emitting machines must be registered with the authorities, and that people working with or exposed to radiation must take regular medical tests.
The workshop will end on Friday with an overall evaluation of the seminar.