PS026-0 1 RADIATION SAFETY CULTURE POSITION STATEMENT OF THE HEALTH PHYSICS SOCIETY*

The position of the Health Physics Society is that users of radiation and radioactive material should establish a collective commitment by their managers and employees to emphasize safety over competing goals to ensure protection of people and the environment. The precepts of this position are: 1. Individuals and organizations performing activities with radioactive materials and radiation-producing machines should establish and maintain a positive radiation safety culture commensurate with the safety and security significance of their actions and the nature and complexity of their organizations and functions. 2. The responsibility for establishing a radiation safety culture is a shared responsibility by management and workers. The active participation of both is essential for success. 3. Management should establish incentives and sanctions to reinforce desired positive radiation safety behaviors. Management communications of expectations must be continual and clear. 4. Federal, state, and local regulatory agencies cannot successfully regulate workplace culture. Their role should be to encourage and mentor the development of a robust safety culture, rather than to attempt to impose and enforce specific behaviors appropriate to radiation safety culture. 5. Resources should be effectively allocated by management to address safety and schedule. Protecting workers, the public, and the environment must be the top priorities whenever work activities are planned and performed. 6. The role of radiation protection professionals and their scientific and professional societies is to promote a positive radiation safety culture in the workplace