Online International Radiation Protection Officer (RPO) Training Course

Course overview

This course consists of approximately FOURfull days of learning which you can do at your own pace. This RPO course considers ionising radiation safety for those who are occupationally exposed, of other persons exposed as a result of those who work with ionising radiation. This particular course is not designed to consider patient radiation safety as a result of medical exposures (but covers medical staff who deliver those exposures).

Modules will cover the following subjects:

1. Ionising Radiation, their Effects & Potential Harm – a basic introduction to ionising radiation, important terms to be understood and used, radiation exposure, radioactivity, the basics of x-ray systems, the health effects from high and low doses of ionising radiation, and a summary of the sources of natural and man made radiation you may come across.
   
2. ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) - ALARA is a fundamental principle of restricting exposure from ionising radiation. In this module you will consider where ALARA is engineered into radiation sources, and where ALARA requires 'on-going' thinking as you work.
   
3. External and Internal Radiation Hazards - in this module you will explore a number of different types of radiation source (or workplace situation) and determine if they are classed as a potential external radiation hazard, an internal radiation hazard or both. This module will present a summary of every important category of source type you might encounter around the world.
   
4. Practical Radiation Protection - here we examine the three key principles for restricting exposure from external hazards (involving time, distance and shielding), as well as the potentially more onerous (but important) principles for avoiding exposures from internal hazards.
   
5. Radiation and Contamination Monitoring (including Dosimetry) - this module presents a concise summary of a diverse and potentially complicated area of radiation protection. This is a good example of where we help you understand what you may not know, in order to ask the right questions.
6. Ionising Radiation Risk - ionising radiation is just one risk you will face when going about your work. The aim of this module is to present ionising radiation risk in context with other risks in the workplace and environment.
7. Radiation Protection Legislation - here we present the basic requirements of the IAEA General Safety Requirements Part 3 (No. GSR Part 3) - "Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards". This module will consider the role of the licensee in some detail. Note that we cannot feature country specific legislation so there may be small differences in regard of local practice or terminology. However, all local legislation will be based on the IAEA GSR Part 3).
   
8. Local Rules and the Radiation Protection Officer- in many ways the most important module of the course. In this module you will discover the nature and significance of local rules – the Radiation Protection Officer is required to supervise work in compliance with the local rules. In addition, the content of a Radiation Safety Programme will be detailed.
9. Qualified Expert (QE) and the Regulators - here we discuss the role of the Qualified Expert (QE) and what to expect from the regulators (the IAEA are not regulators so we will present a basic overview of what would be expected).
   
10. Contingency (emergency plans) - what to do when things go wrong! Making emergency plans for a reasonably foreseeable radiation accident, rehearsing the plans, putting the plans into effect and investigating accidents.

Throughout this course we will present you with interactive quizzes and puzzles to aid your learning. At the end of this course, you will take an online test consisting mainly of short multiple-choice questions with a few written questions, and receive a certificate if you pass successfully.

You tutor is Mark Ramsay, Radiation Protection Adviser (and Qualified Expert for non- UK clients) from Ionactive Consulting Limited. If you have any difficulties with the course content please feel free to chat with your tutor using the inbuilt messaging service.

Course quality traceability

The course is written and produced by Mark Ramsay with the following certifications:

• Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA) - RPA 2000 Certification (UK) - 00001672 (this appears on your RPO training certificate)
• Radioactive Waste Adviser (RWA) - RPA 2000 Certification (UK) - 0000200
• Chartered Radiation Protection Professional (CRadP) - Reg No. co554 (through the UK Radiation Protection Council)
  

The certifications can be downloaded, or checked at RPA2000.