Supporting Practical Science, D&T and Art
- in schools and colleges
CLEAPSS® , Brunel Science Park, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge UB8 3PQ
50 years of exciting and safe practical work
1963 – 2013
Tel: 01895 251496
e-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.cleapss.org.uk
From the RADIATION PROTECTION ADVISER
29 July 2017
Dear
Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999
CLEAPSS RPA Service / RPA2
Thank you for sending documentation about the radioactive sources held in schools in your local authority.
Some of the sources listed are present in quantities and concentrations listed in Schedule 8 of the Ionising
Radiations Regulations 1999. Therefore it is my duty to advise you that you need to appoint formally a
Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA).
CLEAPSS, as you know, is able to offer an RPA Service. There will be a charge for this service, in addition to
your normal CLEAPSS subscription.
If you wish to use the CLEAPSS RPA Service, please copy the attached pro forma letter of appointment on to
local authority headed stationery, filling in gaps as appropriate and return it to the RPA Service, CLEAPSS, The
Gardiner Building, Brunel Science Park, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, UB8 3PQ. It is important that you provide
a list of all schools that have sources so that CLEAPSS can invoice you for the correct amount. (If you
wish, this can include academies, voluntary aided, foundation and independent schools and colleges but you
would then need to monitor what is happening in the schools in the same way as you do for community schools,
where your authority is the employer).
You will note that you are asked in the letter to name a contact person, who will be designated as the local
authority Radiation Protection Officer (RPO). This might, for example, be a science adviser or inspector, or a
health and safety adviser, ie people who regularly visit schools to monitor and advise on either the science
curriculum or health and safety matters. However we do NOT think this is a role for a pure administrator.
CLEAPSS will offer a 1-day training course for RPOs. In essence it will involve keeping records and visiting
schools to monitor the use, storage and management of radioactive sources. A more detailed description of the
role is given on a separate sheet. It may be that in some local authorities there is no suitable officer. In such
cases, the authority might buy in expertise, eg, from an experienced physics teacher or from an educational
consultant.
It must be emphasised that ultimate legal responsibility rests with the radiation employer (ie, the local
authority, or, for voluntary aided and foundation schools, the governing body). Designating an employee or
consultant as RPO or appointing somebody as RPA, in no way removes that responsibility.
Yours sincerely,
Steve Jones
Director
RPA2 (April 2013)
COPY THIS LETTER ON TO LOCAL AUTHORITY HEADED PAPER, FILLING IN GAPS
AS APPROPRIATE.
To the CLEAPSS RPA Service,
CLEAPSS,
The Gardiner Building,
Brunel Science Park,
Kingston Lane
Uxbridge,
UB8 3PQ
Date
Dear Sir,
Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999
Under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 the ………………………… local authority hereby
appoints … … … … … … … … on behalf of CLEAPSS as Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA) to the
authority for the purpose of sources held for the teaching of science in its schools and colleges.
The contact person in the authority, hereafter referred to as the Radiation Protection Officer (RPO)
will be:
Name ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Job title …………………………………………………………………………………..…
Address …………………………………………………………………………………….
e-mail ………………………………………………………………………………………
Phone ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Fax ………………………………………………………………………………………….
Total number of schools/colleges in this local authority which hold radioactive sources … …
I attach a list of these schools (names and postcodes)
We undertake to keep CLEAPSS informed of any change to the name or contact details of the RPO.
We also undertake to provide CLEAPSS with any necessary information about the radioactive
sources kept in our schools.
We understand that there is an additional charge for the RPA service (based on the number of
schools holding sources), which will be added as a separate item to our annual subscription invoice.
We also understand that membership of the RPA Service will only continue as long as the local
authority remains a member of CLEAPSS, and that if the authority wishes to leave the RPA Service,
this can only take place at the end of the financial year with a minimum notice of one year.
Signed on behalf of the local authority
RPA2 (April 2013)