Appendix CRF - Part 3 - Northamptonshire County Council

4.1.6 Pregnant and breast-feeding employees
9
VERSION 3, 14 July 2009
Regulation 8(5) contains additional dose restriction provisions for such employees. For
pregnant women, it is recommended the dose to the foetus should be kept below 1 mSv.
Whilst exposures of over 1 mSv are unlikely to occur, as a precaution it is recommended that
pregnant employees are not allowed in the LLW work areas.
For breastfeeding women, it is recommended that they avoid situations where significant
bodily contamination might occur. As a general precaution, it is recommended that such
women are not allowed in the LLW work areas.
The risks associated with radiological hazards should be incorporated in the company risk
assessment for pregnant and breastfeeding employees.
4.2 DESIGNATED AREAS
4.2.1 Controlled areas
Regulation 16 requires the designation of a controlled area where either:
a) radiation doses are likely to exceed three-tenths of the annual dose limits for workers
(e.g. 6mSv/y effective dose); or
b) special working procedures are required to restrict radiation exposures.
Worker doses are not expected to exceed 6 mSv/y. However, it is considered that special
working procedures (as defined in Regulation 16(1)) are appropriate in respect of certain
operations. Consequently the following recommendations are made:
Incoming waste consignments should be rapidly processed, and should not remain in any
one area for an extended period of time. On this basis, a controlled area (for example,
around arriving vehicles) is not recommended.
A quarantine area should be provided for waste consignments that do not meet the dose
rate limits described previously, and this should be designated as a controlled area
whenever such consignments are quarantined. It should be ensured that the dose rate
outside this area is below 2 μSv/h.
During the deposition of waste containers, elevated dose rates are present, and there is
the potential for accidents (dropped containers, etc.). It is recommended that this area is
designated as a controlled area during the disposal operation, and should remain
designated until a satisfactory covering layer has been applied (see 4.1.2).
Controlled areas should, where practicable be physically demarcated and warning signs
posted at the points of entry. For the above areas, the following is recommended:
Quarantine area: the perimeter should be fully demarcated, ideally with fencing, but if
not, with rope barriers or similar. A controlled area warning sign should be posted at all
points of potential access.
Disposal area: during the operational period the area will be occupied or under
surveillance and it is considered sufficient to temporarily post controlled area warning
signs at the access points to the area.
WS010001/ENRMF/CONSAPPCRF 650