The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment had been requested earlier this year to carry out radiation monitoring on equipment imported for use by the Fiji Road Authority and its sub contractors.
After the monitoring, the Ministry ascertained that the radiation being emitted by the equipment was within the specified limits of exposure. However, as a precautionary measure, the Ministry requested Air Terminal Services (Fiji) Ltd. to provide an isolated storage for the equipment while waiting for removal by the sub contractors of the Fiji Road Authority.
In addition to this, the Ministry, in close collaboration with Radiation Health Board of the Ministry of Health, met with officials from the Fiji Road Authority to discuss the way forward. As a result of this meeting, the Fiji Road Authority agreed to provide radiation safety training to its workers and to comply with the licensing requirements of the Radiation Health Board.
The radiation safety training has been completed in June and trained personnel include officers from the Fiji Road Authority and its sub-contractors. The training covered transportation, storage and handling of radiation emitting equipment. The Fiji Road Authority is currently liaising with the Radiation Health Board to fulfil all the requirements for the licensing of the trained personnel.
The Ministry will continue to work closely with the Radiation Health Board to provide assistance with radiation monitoring as the need arises.
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