ONR has served an Improvement Notice on Devonport Royal Dockyard Limited as a result of an investigation which highlighted shortfalls in the health and safety arrangements for work with ionising radiations. The improvement notice follows an incident which resulted in an individual receiving a very small internal dose of radioactivity.
It is the duty holder’s responsibility to make and implement arrangements in order to keep doses as low as reasonably practicable, and while the consequences of the intake were negligible, the event highlighted shortfalls in the licensee’s arrangements for working with ionising radiations.
ONR has previously engaged with the duty holder to facilitate safety improvements, however further action is now required to bring the arrangements up to an acceptable standard. DRDL is now required to submit a programme of work to ONR and provide regular updates and evidence to demonstrate completion of key activities.
DRDL is required to make the improvements by 31 January 2016.