Education and training are the two basic pillars of any policy regarding safety in the workplace. Practitioners who work with radiation sources will have a wide range of responsibilities and objectives depending on the radiation practice, but all will have a triple common need:

 

A basic education as well as specific training providing the required level of understanding of artificial and natural radiation and its management, standards for the recognition of skills and experience, an opportunity to refresh, update and test acquired knowledge and competence on a regular basis.

 

International meetings, publications and recommendations covering safety culture in the field of radiological protection increasingly stress the need for education and training. In addition, compliance with the requirements of specific European directives and the international basic safety standards is crucial in a world of dynamic markets and increasing workers’ mobility, and common approaches to training facilitate the understanding of these requirements.

 

Five international meetings on education and training in radiological protection have already been organised. These meetings focused on benchmarking current experiences and practices and introduced a harmonised approach to education and training at the European level. The first meeting was held in Saclay (France) in 1999, the second took place in Madrid (Spain) in 2003, the third in Brussels (Belgium) in 2005, the fourth in Lisbon (Portugal) in 2009 and the fifth in Vienna (Austria) in 2013.