Hazardous Substances Regulatory Authority Prioritising Public Safety

The Hazardous Substances Regulatory Authority (HSRA) Radiation and Safety Department plays a critical role in advancing public safety.

With an unwavering commitment to ensuring the secure and responsible use of ionising radiation materials, the Department has been at the forefront of issuing authorisations to users and facilities, which are in the form of licences, registrations and permits.

Senior Director of the Department, Tracey-Ann Elliott, who outlined details of the various categories of authorisations, explained that “licences are issued to facilities where the risk of exposure to [ionising radiation emissions] is extremely high”.

She added that this specific authorisation is issued primarily to radiotherapy and diagnostic facilities as well as some service providers.

Mrs. Elliott was speaking during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ at the agency’s head office in Kingston.

Regarding registrations, the Senior Director shared that “these are usually issued to lower risk facilities and qualified experts [who] are generally specialists in areas that provide support services for the determination of safety within the workspace that utilise ionising radiation”.

Registrations are also issued to dental facilities that have X-ray machines, facilities that have baggage scanning machines she said, as well as “those persons who essentially negotiate… broker deals on behalf of authorised users or users of ionising radiation technology”.

In terms of permits, “these are generally issued for imports and exports, but they are also issued for the citing, construction, location, and decommissioning of facilities that use ionising radiation technologies”.

In relation to the authorisation process, Mrs. Elliott informed that entities or individuals need to “submit an application [to the HSRA] as well as supporting documents, including a radiation protection plan, which is simply an overarching management plan that highlights the different areas related to training of personnel, the identification of personnel, and the [level of] protection that is within the organisation”.

Additionally, they need to submit any administrative controls as well as engineering controls that ensure that persons utilising the sources are protected, Mrs. Elliott told JIS News.

She said: “The application process may also include a safety assessment report, where we have our qualified experts who visit facilities and conduct assessments to determine that the public and workers are safe and that the equipment are operating within specified parameters.”

At the end of the assessment, a facility will be issued with a certificate of licence, registration or permit.

The Radiation and Safety Department’s efforts underscore the Authority’s commitment to staying at the forefront of regulatory excellence, and continuously evolving to meet the dynamic challenges posed by emerging technologies and scientific advancements.