Radon in the Workplace Project

A three year project starting in October 2008 will be launched by the Council’s Environmental Health team to address the issue of radon in the workplace.  All businesses having a basement or a working area on a ground floor will need to demonstrate that their workers are not exposed to excessive levels of harmful radon gas.  Businesses will need to assess the level of radon that workers are exposed to by obtaining special radon detectors and placing them in the workplace for a few months.  These tiny monitors will then be examined in a laboratory to give a reading of the overall radon level.  Businesses will be chosen where the highest historical levels have been found based on the postcode.  Information will be sent to each business giving them guidance on what to do and where to obtain the monitors and officers will be available to give specific advice during the project.  

Radon is now recognised to be the second largest cause of lung cancer in the UK after smoking. Radon makes up the highest concentration of natural radiation dose received by the UK population and, while the largest doses occur in domestic dwellings (due to the longer time spent there), significant exposures occur in workplaces.

Radon is a naturally occuring gas and high levels can occur if the local geology contains rocks with higher levels of uranium. Granite tends to have high levels of uranium and so radon levels are particularly high in the South West of England particularly in and around Dartmoor.

Radon gas is odourless and tasteless and seeps out of the ground where it builds up in confined spaces, particularly in underground areas such as in basements, caves, mines etc. High concentrations occur in buildings because they are usually at a slightly lower pressure than the surrounding atmosphere and tends to be sucked in through cracks or gaps in the floor.

Most radon gas breathed in is immediately exhaled and presents very little danger.  However, a particular bi-product of radon is solid and radioactive and attaches itself to dust and water droplets and is breathed in. This can damage the respiratory tract and can cause irrepairable damage to the cells within the lungs.

In the majority of cases where elevated levels of radon is found, the solution is to make changes to the work pattern and only in extreme cases does the remedy involve more complex  work.

For further information please contact either Kevin Ogborne (01803 861145) or Honey Foskett (01803 861191)