International Radiation Protection Association

Initiative on RP culture

The initial proposal

• At the IRPA12 Associate Societies Forum in Buenos Aires in October 2008, the French Society for Radiation Protection (SFRP) proposed to launch an IRPA initiative for enhancing radiation protection culture among the RP professionals worldwide.

• This proposal was very favourably welcomed by the participating Associate Societies and the IRPA Executive Council decided to actively support this initiative.

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European ALARA Network (EAN) also expressed later on their interest and support

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First actions

• The Austrian (OVS), French (SFRP), German (FS) and Swiss (ARRAD) Societies met in Strasbourg, France, in May 2009 to discuss RP culture and identify preliminary relevant topics.

• The Spanish Society (SERP) organized a meeting in Madrid in June 2009 to discuss organizational RP culture.

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First IRPA Workshop on RP culture in Paris

• 14 -15 December 2009• 25 participants• Representatives of 9 IRPA Societies :

– Austria– Belgium– France– Germany– Italy– Poland– Spain– Switzerland– United Kingdom,

• Reprentatives from WHO and EAN

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WHY RP CULTURE?

• To give visibility to the fundamentals of RP (science and values)

• To promote radiation risk awareness

• To promote shared responsibility among practitioners, operators, regulators and management

• To maintain the RP heritage

• To facilitate its transmission

• To improve the quality and effectiveness of RP

• To contribute to the general safety

• To improve communication with society

• To enhance the visibility of RP in our societies

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Key elements of RP culture

• Knowledge

• Values and ethics ( i.e Equity)

• Principles : justification, ALARA, limitation

• Experience

• Behaviour

• History of RP

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First proposals for a definition of RP culture

1. The term “RP culture” means the way in which RP is founded, regulated, managed, performed, preserved, and perceived in the workplace, in medicine, and every day’s life and reflects the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, goals, and values that all parties involved share in relation to RP.(Strasbourg meeting, May 2009)

2. The term “RP culture” means the way in which RP is founded, regulated, managed, performed and preserved by professionals but also reflects the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values that they share in relation to RP.

(Paris workshop, December 2009)

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A possible Roadmap

1. Define RP culture

2. Engage stakeholders

3. Develop an assessment tool

4. Implement a strategy

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Questions for the 2010 IRPA regional Congresses Associate Societies Forum

• What are the elements of the RP culture and how could we define it?

• Is it possible to assess the RP culture and what could be the criteria?

• How to engage the stakeholders (regulators, operators, professional organizations…) in the process of developing RP culture.

• What is the role of IRPA and its associate societies in promoting an RP culture?

• What are the criteria for success?

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Enhancing RP culture will be a long process

• All these challenges before to develop IRPA Guiding Principles shall be raised in the next future and will require the worldwide RP community commitment

• agreement to organize the 2nd international seminar on RP culture in Charleston in February 2011 . •with the support of the American Health Physics Society (HPS), the American Academy of Health Physics (AAHP) and the National Council on Radiation Protection and measurements (NCRP)

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Roadmap

May 2009meeting SFRP-FS

Strasbourg

European RP societies meeting

2è oct Zagreb.

June 2010IRPA Helsinki

2rd WG meeting.USA 2011

13-18 May 2012Glasgow

April 2009French workshop

SFRP

Inter. Workshop.PARIS

December 2009

IRPA TokyoMay 2010

3rd WG meeting.ASIA 2011 ??

Sept 2010IRPA Nairobi

June 2009SERP meeting

Madridoct 2010

IRPA medelin