What type of information is being provided?
If your employer is registered with the ANRDR, they will provide us with data on your exposures. This includes a breakdown of doses you received from external sources of radiation or from radionuclides inside your body. The dose data is gathered from your personal monitor and other relevant assessments your employer provides.
Some personal information is also provided to make sure your doses are correctly matched with existing records and to identify you when you request your dose history. This includes full name, date of birth, sex and employee number.
How will your data be used?
The data provided to us by your employer is used to maintain your cumulative dose history. It ensures that your dose history remains retrievable, regardless of whether you change jobs, move to a different jurisdiction, or if an employer ceases to exist. Your dose history will be available on request in the form of a personal dose history report.
The data maintained in the dose register is used to identify industry trends and allow comparisons across different work practices. This information may assist in improving safety and may help in establishing guidelines to support dose optimisation for workers.
The published data analyses will not identify individual workers or employers who are registered with the ANRDR. All personal information is handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth). Please refer to the ANRDR Privacy Statement for further information on the storage and use of personal information.
How can I have my personal information corrected?
ARPANSA does not change or manipulate any of the personal information or dose data provided by your employer. If you believe that incorrect information has been provided to the ANRDR, please contact your employer in the first instance to have the information corrected. If you are no longer employed by the employer, or if the employer no longer exists, please contact the ANRDR to obtain a personal information correction form. This request will be actioned within 30 days of receipt by the ANRDR and you will be informed of the outcome by email.
What are the benefits to you?
Maintaining your dose records with the ANRDR makes sure:
- you can access your dose history free of charge from anywhere in Australia, even if you change jobs
- your dose history is stored and maintained long-term, even after you retire or your employer stops their monitoring program
- you don’t need to chase up your previous employers or dosimetry service providers to get your dose history, saving you time and effort.
The information maintained in the ANRDR will help to inform better work practices and improve safety for occupationally exposed workers in Australia.
Dose limits
Where it is expected that a worker will be exposed to radiation because of their employment, the worker must not exceed the prescribed dose limits. In Australia, these dose limits are prescribed in the Code of Radiation Protection in Planned Exposure Situations (ARPANSA 2020), Radiation Protection Series C-1, which reflects international best practice in radiation protection.
The current limit of radiation exposure is 20 millisieverts (mSv) per year averaged over 5 years, and not more than 50 mSv received in any one year for effective (whole body) dose. On average, the typical exposure to workers in industries currently registered in the ANRDR is significantly less than the prescribed dose limits. These dose limits only apply to radiation exposure received occupationally, and do not include exposures from natural background radiation or non-occupational medical doses.
Further information on radiation and radiation exposure can be found in Understanding radiation.
View your dose record for free
We encourage you to request a personal dose history report periodically. It’s free and empowers you to be on top of your exposures.
Your personal report will contain all doses that have been reported to the ANRDR by your current and past employers in Australia. This service is provided free of charge by ARPANSA.
You can request your report by completing this online form.
