RadHaz Awareness

With the proliferation of radio operated devices, especially mobile phones, more and more people are being expected to work in the vicinity of radio transmission installations.  Thus RadHaz - Radiation Hazards - are becoming more common.  These days, society expects employers to be a lot more aware of the Health & Safety needs of their employees.  To this end legislation has been introduced to ensure that employees and employers recognise and adhere to their responsibilities.  Exposure to high levels of RF radiation can cause serious injury.  RF burns, for instance, can occur by touching a metal object which is being exposed to high levels of RF radiation.  In a normal situation, it would be expected that such a particular metal object would not be hot.  Ensuring that an RF radiation site is safe for all personnel is somewhat more difficult than perhaps in a normal working situation.  Unfortunately RF radiation can not been seen like a pallet placed in the wrong place in a factory that somebody may trip over.

The new Australian Standard - Maximun Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields - 3kHz to 300GHz (2002) - released by ARPANSA in May, 2002, is very perscriptive about the responsibilities of all those involved with RF emitting devices to minimise the exposure of their staff and the general public. The Standard is used as the basis for any Occupational Health & Safety investigation.

Course Outline

• Radiation & the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Possible effects on the Human Body - the eyes, the brain, the blood system and the immune system
• Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) - meaning and measurement
• Personal Radiation Monitors - in particular RadMan and General Microwave
• Australian Standards for Exposure - Maximun Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields - 3kHz to 300GHz (2002)
• Compliance with the Standard - responsibilities of Designers, Employer, Employees, Self Employed
• Measurement of Potentially Hazardous Fields as per the Standard
• Relationships of Maximum Exposure Levels
• Prudent use of Mobile Phones
• Demonstrations

Course Duration & Presentation

5 hours.  Lecture notes, video and demonstrations.

Course Designer & Presenter

Vianney Shiel is the Managing Director of Airtronic Circuits Pty. Ltd.  Formally he was the Principal Lecturer in Manufacturing Technology at the Australian Electronic Development Centre (AEDC) and prior to that was a Department Head at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).  At the AEDC he developed and taught many courses in Australia and around the world.  He worked extensively with the Government in developing the Electromagnetic Compatibility Framework and the resultant EMC courses for industry training.  He developed this course in conjunction with one of Australia's mobile phone carriers and trained most of their staff in the Occupational Health & Safety aspects of RadHaz.  At RMIT, one of his areas of expertise was Communication Measurements.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for anyone to attend.  Depending on the background of the attendees, the necessary technical details are explained in simple and easy to understand terms.  Over the past  2 years this course has been presented to RF Engineers, Civil & Structural Engineers, Electricians, Riggers, Crane Drivers and general Labourers involved in the Telecommunications Industry.

Optional Exam

At the end of the course there is an optional 30 minute multi-choice exam which is required if a Certificate of Competency is to be issued. Otherwise, only a Certificate of Attendance can be issued

RadHaz Awareness & Measurement

This course covers all of the topics in the Awareness Course, from a more technical point of view, and adds the details of how to take correct measurements to determine field strength.

Course Outline

• Radiation & the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Effects on the Human Body
• Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)
• Personal Radiation Monitors
• Australian Standards for Exposure
• Compliance with the Standards
• Measurement of Potentially Hazardous Fields as per the Standards
• Relationships of Maximum Exposure Levels
• Prudent use of Mobile Phones
• Typical Measurement Equipment
• Taking a measurement
• Demonstrations

Course Duration & Presentation

6 hours.  Lecture notes, video and demonstrations.

Course Designer & Presenter

Vianney Shiel is the Managing Director and Principal Consultant of Airtronic Circuits Pty. Ltd.  For the past eight years he was the Principal Lecturer in Manufacturing Technology at the Australian Electronic Development Centre (AEDC) and prior to that was a Department Head at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).  At the AEDC he developed and taught many courses in Australia and around the world.  He worked extensively with the government in developing the Electromagnetic Compatibility Framework and the resultant EMC courses for industry training.  He developed this course in conjunction with one of Australia's mobile phone carriers and trained most of their staff in the Occupational Health & Safety aspects of RadHaz.  At RMIT, one of his areas of expertise was Communication Measurements.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for technical personal who are supervising or working on RF transmission sites.  It is also suitable for management personal with some technical background whose job includes supervising non-radiation workers on RF transmission sites.

Optional

At the end of the course there is an optional 45 minute multi-choice exam and/or a 2 hour hands on measurement session.