RADIATION EXPOSURE IN ONTARIO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: NEW SAFETY AGREEMENT ANNOUNCED

["Grant Cubbon" <gcubbon@RADIATIONSAFETY.CA>]

Radiation Safety Institute of Canada

Institut de radioprotection du Canada

National Office, Toronto



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For immediate release



RADIATION EXPOSURE IN ONTARIO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:



NEW SAFETY AGREEMENT ANNOUNCED



TORONTO, Monday, April 23, 2001 --



An agreement to provide assistance in radiation safety to Ontario's school

boards, colleges, universities, museums and libraries was announced today by

the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada and the Education Safety

Association of Ontario (ESAO).



"X-ray machines and radioactive materials are used extensively in teaching,

research and analysis in many of our institutions," says Dwight Barratt,

Executive Director of the ESAO, the provincial safe workplace association

for the education sector.



"We want to assist our clients to ensure that people working in the

education sector are not unduly or accidentally exposed to radiation and

that radiation safety is a priority at all times," Barratt says.



Fergal Nolan, President of the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada,

confirms the widespread use of radioactive materials and of various kinds of

machines and devices that emit radiation in Canada's teaching and research

institutions.



These "radiation tools" are extremely useful and even essential, Nolan says.

"However, like all tools, radiation tools must be used safely by the people

who work with them. Close attention by employers and employees to radiation

safety in the workplace is essential," Nolan says.



Nolan adds that the Ontario government has moved to make workplace radiation

safety a provincial priority. "The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board

(WSIB) has made radiation safety a key part of its prevention strategy in

occupational health and safety. This is a bold and innovative step," says

Nolan.



The ESAO's Dwight Barratt adds that the partnership agreement with the

Radiation Safety Institute "means that access to information, advice and

assistance in this specialized area of workplace safety is now readily

available to Ontario's education sector through the ESAO. This is a

significant addition to our services".



The Education Safety Association of Ontario (ESAO) was founded in 1997,

following the government's re-organization of the Ontario health and safety

system. It provides a wide variety of assistance and services to employers

in Ontario's education sector.



The Radiation Safety Institute of Canada is an independent, national

institute with information and scientific staff and facilities in Toronto

and Saskatoon. The institute specializes in radiation safety in the

workplace, the environment and in homes and schools.



Designated a partner for radiation safety in Ontario's health and safety

system, the Radiation Safety Institute's independent approach to radiation

exposure issues is summed up in the registered motto, "good science in plain

language"®.



Contact:



Dwight Barratt, Education Safety Association of Ontario (ESAO). Phone: 416

250 8005 x 107



Fergal Nolan, Radiation Safety Institute of Canada Phone: 416 650 9090 x 22











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