Radiation protection supervisors (RPSs) have a crucial role to play in helping ensure compliance with the arrangements made by the employer for working with ionising radiation. 

Employers (based in England, Scotland and Wales) must appoint one, or more, suitable RPSs under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR17) in respect of any work carried out in any area that they have made subject to local rules.

For a person to be suitable to act as a RPS, they should:

  1. know and understand the requirements of IRR17 and the local rules relevant to the work with ionising radiation;
  2. command sufficient authority from the people doing the work to allow them to supervise the radiation protection aspects of the work;
  3. understand the necessary precautions to be taken and the extent to which they will restrict exposures;
  4. be given sufficient time and resources to carry out their functions; and
  5. know what to do in an emergency.


RPSs require appropriate training, refreshed at appropriate intervals, to carry out the task adequately. 


This course focuses on radiological protection aspects associated with sealed radioactive sources and X-ray equipment. It covers:

1. The nature of ionising radiation and its interaction with tissue including:

  • The nature of any harmful effects;
  • The principle of restricting exposure to ionising radiation so far as is reasonably practicable; and
  • The concept of external radiation exposure.

2. The quantities used for measuring ionising radiation, including the units of measurement.

3. Relevant radiation measurement techniques.

4. Basic legal requirements:

  • The Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR17) and Approved Code of Practice (L121);
  • Local rules, their purpose and how to use them to secure compliance with the Regulations;
  • Risk assessments;
  • Provisions specific to women and young people;
  • Designation of people and areas; and
  • Appreciation of relevant general health and safety legislation.

5. The basic principles of practical radiation protection:

  • Time;
  • Distance;
  • Shielding;
  • Source strength;

and how those principles are carried through to working arrangements with sealed sources and x-rays.

6. In-house knowledge that should be acquired by the RPS to be suitable to perform their role

7. Practical procedures to be followed in the event of an accident, incident, emergency or other unwanted occurrence, including procedures for reporting adverse incidents.


A course handout is provided and this contains all of the slides used in the training package. 


Every delegate will be given access to the course material for 6 months from the date of enrollment (and in the case of pre-enrolled delegates their access will be for 6 months from the date of course release).  

It is estimated that most delegates will take approximately 1.5 days to complete this training course.

There is an online examination at the end of this course. Upon successful completion of this training, a digital credential (certificate) will be issued by email to the delegate for their records.

Course curriculum

    1. How to use our online learning management system

    2. Course handout and additional information

    3. Sealed Sources and X-rays Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS) course introductory video

    1. Radiation Protection Supervisor (RPS) role

    2. Quick quiz 1

    1. Fundamentals of radiation science

    2. Quick quiz 2

    3. Sources of radiation

    4. Quick quiz 3

    5. Radioactive decay and half-lives

    6. Quick quiz 4

    7. Types of ionising radiations and their properties

    8. Electrical generation of X-ray radiation

    9. Radiological exposure mechanisms

    10. Sealed radioactive sources

    11. High activity sealed sources (HASS)

    12. Categorisation of sealed sources

    1. Quantities used for measuring radiation and their units

    2. Quick quiz 5

    1. Biological effects of radiation

    2. Quick quiz 6

    1. External radiation hazards - Part 1: X-rays

    2. External radiation hazards - Part 2: Beta radiation

    3. External radiation hazards - Part 3 Gamma radiation

    4. External radiation hazards - Part 4: Neutron radiation

    5. System of radiological protection - justification, optimisation and limitation

    6. External radiation dose controls

    7. Measuring external radiation

About this course

  • £299.00
  • 43 lessons
  • 6.5 hours of video content

If you are needing to purchase this course for someone else to take then please place an order for this course and select the option of "This is a gift" during the check out process. After you select "This is a gift", you will be asked to enter the name and email address of the person that you wish to enroll on the course.

If you wish to enroll 2 or more people onto the course then please toggle the quantity of courses required to suit your needs. Instructions on how to enroll your delegates will be issued automatically once the check out process is completed. 

Alternatively please email us at [email protected] and we can issue you with an invoice associated with your delegate's enrollment onto this course. Normally within 24 hours of receipt of payment we will issue a coupon code to you to share with your delegate so that they can access the course.

If you, or your employer, would prefer to pay by Bank Transfer rather than making an online transaction then we can send you an invoice to help enable this. Please email us at [email protected] stating which course you would like delegates enrolled in and state how many delegates. 

For payment via invoice please provide us with your contact details, company name, the appropriate billing address for the invoice, email address for the invoice to be sent to and any purchase order number that needs to appear on the invoice. We will then prepare and dispatch an invoice to you based on these details. Once the invoice has been paid then we will send out a coupon code for use (normally within 24 hours) to allow delegate(s) access to the course(s).

We will plant 10 trees for every delegate who enrolls, or is enrolled, on this course.

We are committed to taking action on climate change. We record how many delegates are enrolled for each of our courses and plant the stated number of trees through our partner organisation Ecologi. Reforestation is widely understood as a major natural climate solution. From an ecological point of view we're only just grasping the cost of what life is like without trees. The reforestation projects we fund aren't certified as carbon offsets. The carbon emissions they will sequester will happen in the future.
See how many trees have been planted in our forest

Instructor

Bob Kerr BSc(Hons) CRadP FSRP MNucI MRSC MSaRS

Hi there, thanks for looking at and hopefully signing up for one of our online radiation safety training courses.  I am the Director of RP Alba Ltd. I have been working with and advising users of radiation and radioactivity for over 20 years. Most of my radiological work has been in various parts of the United Kingdom (UK), however I have also performed work with radiation and radioactive materials on various continents.  I hold a Certificate of Competence from RPA2000 to act as a Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA) and a further Certificate of Competence to act as a Radioactive Waste Adviser (RWA). I am a Chartered Radiation Protection Professional, a Fellow of the Society for Radiological Protection, a Member of the Nuclear Institute, a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Member of the Association of University Radiation Protection Officers (AURPO) and a Member of the Safety and Reliability Society.  I have first hand experience of working with clients in various sectors that use radiation or work with radioactivity. My first hand radiological experience includes work with the following: veterinary, dental, food manufacturing, X-ray manufacturer/suppliers, industrial radiography, nuclear, universities, schools, class 7 dangerous goods transportation companies and contaminated land remediation. I have personally been involved in developing, reviewing and/or approving the content of all of our training courses. I welcome any feedback that you can give us on our courses to help RP Alba Ltd continually improve our courses and services to your benefit.