50 benefit from radiation safety regulation training

A total of 50 people benefited from a five-day workshop on Basic Radiation Safety and the Regulation of Radiation Sources which was hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Public Health Ministry.
The training was conducted by consultants from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tasos Zodiates of United Kingdom and Bob Irwin of Canada and saw professionals from both the Public and Private Sectors being educated in the use of radiation, radioactive sources and its management in attendance.
Those who benefited were drawn from the medical, industrial and agricultural sectors as well as regulatory bodies in the fields of environment, customs and mining.
Participants were also drawn from nine of the 10 administrative regions and were trained in radiation sources and protection, legal framework and legislation, medical uses, public exposure, transport, industrial uses and consumer products as it relates to radiation safety and regulation.
In his opening remarks, Chairman of the EPA, Patrick Williams, encouraged the participants to grasp as much as they can to guard against the dangers of radiation and to have the requisite systems in place to protect human health, biodiversity and the environment.
An overview of the national context was provided by Senior Environmental Officer of the EPA, Tashana Redmond and medical physicist attached to the Ministry, Petal Surujpaul.
Redmond indicated that the EPA currently regulates the industrial sources of radiation while the Health Ministry has responsibility for the medical sources.
Currently, Guyana is implementing Project RLA 9082 on the ‘Establishing and Strengthening Sustainable National Regulatory Infrastructures for the Control of Radioactive Sources’ under the IAEA.
The goal of this project is to build the competence and expertise needed by national regulatory bodies to establish and operate an adequate regulatory programme for the safety and security of radiation sources.
Upon completion of the workshop, the participants received certificates but further recommendations were made for additional training of regulatory staff in radiation protection and authorisation.
The need for a radiation protection act and associated regulations was also among some of the issued discussed at the workshop.