A key IAEA database to help countries protect workers from radiation exposure has been upgraded to make it more comprehensive and user friendly.
The IAEA has upgraded the online industrial radiography section, or module, of the Information System for Occupational Exposure in Medicine, Industry and Research database (ISEMIR-IR), to further support countries in protecting engineers and other workers involved in non-destructive testing (NDT).
Non-destructive testing covers industrial radiography, which is the use of X rays, gamma rays and neutrons to examine the integrity of a material, component or system, such as gas pipelines or car parts.
"The upgrade will reduce the workload for ISEMIR-IR users to submit their annual dataset," said Jizeng Ma, Head of the IAEA Occupational Radiation Protection Unit. "Our aim is to encourage a greater volume of data entry, which will allow for more meaningful exposure data analysis."
ISEMIR-IR is designed to gather information on radiation sources, company procedures and dose information, which can be used to compare doses, track trends, share good practices and help companies optimize radiation protection measures for workers involved in non-destructive testing. In response to user feedback, the questionnaire was shortened and simplified, and around 26 per cent of the mandatory questions were made optional, which has reduced the submission time by approximately 30 minutes.
In addition, 153 new datasets containing international worker doses and radiation protection practices from the third ISEMIR-IR global survey conducted in 2022 were uploaded, increasing the data by around 125 per cent. With more data in the system, NDT companies will be able to conduct a stronger analysis of dose to their workers, to enhance safe working practices.
The new ISEMIR-IR interface is more accessible than the previous version, available in the IAEA's six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The system continues to have a high level of data security, where only registered users approved by the IAEA can access the anonymous data, provided they have submitted data of their own.
"ISEMIR-IR is an excellent free system for an NDT company to benchmark their radiation protection programme against those of other NDT companies. With this tool, NDT companies can identify opportunities to improve radiation protection for their workers," said Richard van Sonsbeek, radiation protection expert and former global health, safety, security and environment manager with Applus RTD, the Netherlands.
Why ISEMIR-IR?
ISEMIR was initially launched in 2015 to enable data collection and analysis for optimizing radiation protection of workers, and also covers interventional cardiology (ISEMIR-IC) and naturally occurring radioactive materials (ISEMIR-N). The industrial radiography module was introduced to address the specific nature of the work, such as to identify cracks in concrete or gaps in welding, in structures such as bridges and buildings. These activities are often carried out under difficult working conditions, including confined spaces, extreme temperatures and working at night.
ISEMIR-IR supports the reduction of radiation exposure and mitigates accidents, by allowing users to identify areas for improvement in their radiation protection programmes and learn from international operational experience, to optimize national regulation and practices for worker protection. Data collection in the long term will further enhance dose analysis and benchmarking for users around the world.
