The Ministry of Health’s Office of Radiation Safety (ORS) administers the Radiation Safety Act 2016 and the Radiation Safety Regulations 2016 on behalf of the New Zealand Government. This legislation places controls on all people who deal with ionising radiation. For information about non-ionising radiation and radiofrequency such as 5G, please visit the Non-ionising radiation page under Environmental Health.
News
4 November 2022
The Office of Radiation Safety is now finalising its review of the Radiation Safety Regulations 2016, including setting new fees to be paid under the Regulations. Once final decisions have been made, it is expected that the new fees and other amendments will be put in place during the first half of 2023. More information is available at Radiation Safety Fees and Regulations Review 2021.
7 October 2022
A new email address has been established for formal communication with the Director for Radiation Safety in their official capacity [email protected]. Please use this email address to notify the Director of breaches of the public dose limit and reportable incidents, to seek Director approval under a Code of Practice, applying for exemptions under s 86(3) of the Radiation Safety Act 2016, and other formal communication with the Director in respect of their duties and functions under the Act. Please continue to use the [email protected] for all other enquiries.
22 December 2021
A Compliance Guide for Dental Radiology has been published. This advisory Guide gives some practical guidance on some of the more common compliance issues arising for dental facilities operating traditional and CBCT dental X-ray units with meeting the requirements of radiation protection, in particular Code of Practice for Dental Radiology (ORS C4) and the Code of Practice for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology (ORS C1). Additionally a compliance guide has been published for testing frequencies for a range of X-ray equipment used for diagnostic X-ray procedures covered by ORS C1 and ORS C4: Diagnostic X-ray Testing Frequency Guidelines.
02 November 2020
Frequently asked question (FAQs)
FAQs have been published in support of ORS’ Codes of Practice.
Key requirements of the Radiation Safety Act 2016
The legislation requires the following:
- Managing entities of radiation sources must hold a Source licence authorising them to manage and control those sources.
- Managing entities must register controlled radiation sources with the Office of Radiation Safety.
- Individual users of radiation sources must hold a Use licence unless their use is otherwise authorised by the Act or regulations.
- Consent is required for anyone who wishes to import or export radioactive material.