IRR17 (4) - Duties under the regulations

This is a short regulation but is nonetheless quite important. It says that any duty imposed by IRR17 on an employer, with respect to ionising radiation exposure to persons other than his own employees, will only be imposed where that exposure arises from work undertaken by that employer.

This really means that there is no duty owned to a third party (with respect to exposure to ionising radiation) if the employer is not undertaking work involving ionising radiation.

The regulation also imposes (as equivalent to an employer):

  • Duties on a manager of a mine
  • Duties on an operator of a quarry

Finally, the regulation also states that duties under IRR17 will also apply to a holder of a nuclear site licence (under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965). -with some minor exceptions covered under IRR17 (5) 'notification', IRR17 (6) 'registration' and IRR17 (7) 'consent'.

Atoms are very special: they like certain particular partners, certain particular directions, and so on. It is the job of physics to analyze why each one wants what it wants.

– Richard P. Feynman -