FEATURE
effective measures to reduce the hazard. These will depend on the radon concentrations measured and building design, but can include sealing service entries, installing radon sumps and improving ventilation.
As safely venting radon to the atmosphere reduces the risks, conversely measures to reduce draughts in older buildings by installing better fitting doors and windows can unwittingly increase the radon risk. Properties that have been previously identified as having a low risk can subsequently be found to have a problem following renovation works or improving energy efficiency.
In the US, radon is taken seriously and unless properties have an up-to-date radon test result showing the risk is low, they will not be bought. Ironically in the UK the opposite is often the case; property owners often believe that if they test for radon, they are highlighting a potential risk that will make their property more difficult to sell. The truth is that radon occurs throughout the UK and all properties are potentially at risk.
In the workplace, high radon levels within buildings can be considered an engineering fault. Therefore employers have a legal duty, under the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999, to ensure that employees are not exposed to an
“Annual mortality from radon
exposure in buildings represents 9% of all deaths from lung cancer, and 2% of all cancer deaths.”
“Occupied areas of buildings can be tested for radon by installing discrete passive detectors.”
annual average exceeding the workplace Action Level of 300Bq m-3 (reduced from 400Bq m-3 in January 2018). Should radon levels exceed this, provision should immediately be put in place to reduce radon levels or manage exposure.
For radon to enter a building there must be a mechanism that allows it in. However, the nature and variability of radon ingress is often complex. Depending on the building design and its use, local weather, ground conditions and the underlain source, radon is often highly variable over a range of timescales. As such, and given the half-life of radon, it can disperse around a building, accumulate in closed rooms, or its ingress driven by other factors such as pressure and temperature differentials between the ground and overlying room - often a combination of all these acting together. An improved understanding of this variation can help inform decisions on how to manage and reduce exposure to the building’s users.
A useful tool in managing radon exposure is continuous monitoring technologies. Often, peak concentrations in the workplace occur during the evening or weekend when the building is closed up. Continuous monitoring will track the variability and identify when peaks in radon are occurring, allowing for timed average calculations and day time exposure to be estimated. Conversely, the average workplace exposure level may be higher and affected by how the building is managed and used. Additionally, when other parameters are measured, such as temperature and atmospheric pressure, the key driving mechanisms of ingress can become clearer and lead to informed decisions on how to effectively manage radon in the workplace.
www.ggs-uk.com www.tomorrowsfm.com TOMORROW’S FM | 55
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