By Renato D. Palgan
(This is a reprint from the SCANNER Newsletter, 19th Issue, September 2011)
The sixth International Symposium on Radiation Safety and Detection Technology (ISORD-6) held in Langkawi, Malaysia last July 12 - 14, 2011 was an international gathering of radiation safety experts and practitioners held every two years in the Asia Pacific Region to discuss the latest trends, developments and issues covering a wide array of topics about radiation, such as radiation transport, radiation protection philosophy, radiological issues, etc. And this year’s symposium, which was organized by the Malaysian Radiation Protection Association, was eventually divided into seven different sessions to finish them in a very short span of time, with a special session on the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. All these concerns were discussed in less than a hundred scientific papers which were presented by different nationalities from Japan, Korea, China and Malaysia but what caught me with special interest was the paper presented by Norah Alih of Malaysia entitled, “International Standards for Radiation Protection”, because it has direct relevance to the on-going XIP ISO certification process at the POM X-ray Field Office.
According to the author, in her analysis of the various standards, rules and regulations involving radiation safety made by the different regulating agencies like International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Commission on Radiation Protection, the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, and even the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), it is inevitable that to have a mandatory compliance by all, these standards should be publicized in order to give guidance and ensure proper implementation by the government and private sectors. And from among the sets of safety standards established by the international regulating bodies, there is also a need to harmonize the field of radiation safety and complement ISO/IEC 17024 for the promotion of radiation safety infrastructure through competent personnel. With the end view of professionalization and standardization of radiation safety workers, there is also a need to have a certification system among radiation safety personnel to test and demonstrate their qualification and competence to carry out the tasks in a specific workplace. By harmonizing the certification process, a safety culture will be developed and this will enhance manpower development.
Its relevance to the XIP
Basing on the author’s arguments for the strict adherence to the international safety standards on radiation, the Port of Manila and MICP Field Offices of the X-ray Inspection Project have put up their own respective radiation safety rules and regulations which are suitable to their own respective X-ray facilities, and these are in addition to the existing
Radiation Safety Manual which is promulgated and published by the XIP in accordance with the radiation safety standards issued by the Department of Health, which is the regulating agency with regards to X-ray radiation.
Some of these provisions are similar to both X-ray facilities at the said ports. These provisions include, among others, that only X-ray personnel and authorized visitors are allowed inside the X-ray facility, the wearing of personal radiation monitoring devices at all times during the X-ray personnel tour of duty, X-ray inspectors shall always make an audio warning that X-ray is about to emit to warn people on the site before X-ray scanning of cargoes, all truck drivers shall wait at the designated drivers truck holding area during X-ray inspection, X-ray personnel must wear the prescribed uniform while on duty to distinguish them from the transacting public, and X-ray personnel must immediately press any of the emergency stop button whenever there are emergencies occur. Again, these are just some of the radiation safety guidelines implemented at the X-ray facility and there are still other guidelines implemented inherent with the specifications of the mobile X-ray machine as well as the proper distances within the X-ray facility itself that need not be discussed here for space limitation.
With these radiation safety guidelines earlier mentioned which are all approved by the Department of Health and in congruence with the radiation safety rules and regulation by the international regulating bodies, it is therefore relevant to the ongoing ISO Certification process of XIP’s work and procedures especially at the Port of Manila Field Office because it is a good indication that our work system is in line with the international best practices and standards on X-ray scanning operation. Thus, it would be another crowning glory if once the ISO certification of personnel has already been implemented that only qualified and competent personnel are allowed to be assigned in the XIP and do the work
of X-ray scanning of cargoes. With the ISO certification of XIP personnel, it would surely promote professionalism and the XIP’s outlook towards manpower development would become proactive since ISO Certification necitates to have continuous improvement of skills and competence of X-ray personnel performing a sensitive and technical work in X-ray scanning operation for it is a basic requirement in ISO Certification of radiation workers like the XIP personnel.
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