Radon monitoring
This service is provided for any employer of staff to ensure they comply with all relevant legislation in this area.
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers must, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure the health and safety of employees and others who have access to their work environment.
More specifically, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require the assessment of health and safety risks and with regard to radon this should include radon measurements.
How we can help
We provide radon monitoring for all property types. We first identify which premises are likely to have elevated radon levels and then set up an initial 3 month period of monitoring in the building in several areas.
The Health Protection Agency then provides analysis of the results and reports this back to the client along with guidance and recommendations. The results identify the area(s) of the building that have the problem and a surveyor will visit to provide a design suitable to reduce radon levels within that individual building. The surveyor can then procure the works through a suitable contractor and manage the works on site.
Regulations
The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99) comes into effect where radon is present above the defined level of 400 Bq/m3 and employers are required to take action to restrict resulting exposures.
Finding solutions
The HSE and local authorities are responsible for enforcing these regulations in workplaces. Where there is radon present above 400 Bq/m3, a surveyor from Faithful+Gould can identify the type of construction and, considering the levels of radon and the most likely points of entry, can suggest the most suitable type of remediation.
Informing staff
Another important part of the legislation is that it is essential that staff who work in areas affected by radon are suitably briefed on its potential impact and informed about what is being done to reduce the level of exposure. This is a service that the Faithful+Gould surveyor can carry out as part of the monitoring process.
Following a design survey at each property the surveyor will produce drawings and schedules of work suitable to procure the works using either a preferred contractor of the client or a specialist radon contractor. We can also liaise with the required statutory bodies in obtaining consents (Building Regulations, Listed Building Consent, Planning Permission and Landlord's consent) as required for the works to go ahead. Once this is in place a Faithful+Gould surveyor will co-ordinate the works across all buildings and ensure that the works are carried out in accordance with the design.
Ongoing support
Once the works have been carried out it is important to carry out further monitoring to ensure that the works have been successful and that the employer is no longer considered a radiation employer under IRR99.
To ensure that the client is fully compliant with the legislation it is important that the local authority is informed of the monitoring results and kept up to date with progress in terms of planned works. We provide this as part of the monitoring service.