The status of the radiation safety culture within the higher education, research and teaching sectors in the UK

Abstract

This article reports on the research by a working group, comprising members from the Association of University Radiation Protection Officers, on the radiation safety culture in the UK higher education, research and teaching (HERT) sectors. The impetus for this research arises from the work of the International Radiation Protection Association and their emphasis that embedding radiation safety culture within an organisation is the most effective way of delivering the standards of radiation safety and security that society expects. The deficiency in radiation safety culture has been a large contributor to major nuclear disasters, such as Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi. The working group designed an online survey aimed at higher education students, higher education academics, and researchers. The survey did not try to obtain an indication of safety performance, but of people’s views on behaviours and attitudes of radiation safety that reflect the current radiation safety culture in their organisation. The findings of the survey are reported in this article along with a discussion of the analysis and recommendations for improving radiation safety culture. The responses from the survey strongly indicate that the radiation safety culture in UK HERT sectors has worrying shortfalls, particularly in communication and training.