Revised Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material: ORS C6

Overview

View the Proposed revised Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material: ORS C6 on the Ministry of Health website.

The Radiation Safety Act 2016 (the Act) is administered by the  Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora  (the Ministry).

Section 86(1) of the Act allows the Director for Radiation Safety (Director) to issue codes of practice. This is for the purpose of specifying technical requirements.

Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material Nuclear Medicine: ORS C6 (C6) first became effective as of 19 April 2019. Section 90(a) of the Act requires the Director to review a code of practice at least once every five years.

Section 89(2) of the Act requires that the Director consult with any person who the Director reasonably considers is likely to be affected by a proposed amendment or revocation of a code of practice.

The Director has produced an amended and revoked C6 (revised C6) following the statutorily required review of C6. This document sets out for public consultation revised C6.

Why your views matter

C6 (and any amendment or revocation made) is a secondary legislation under section 86(6) and section 89(4) of the Act and applies to any person who ‘deals with’ a radiation source. The term ‘deal with’ is interpreted in section 5 of the Act and includes ‘to manufacture, possess, control, manage, use, transport, store, export, import, sell, supply, or dispose of a radiation source’. Also ‘deal with’ is interpreted to mean ‘to carry out any other activity or practice involving the radiation source’.

Those affected by revised  C6 include all regulated parties, and other people and organisations with a professional interest in the transport of radioactive material.

The Ministry will review all feedback received as part of the consultation and use it to inform any further amendment or revocation of revised C6.

What happens following the public consultation?

The Ministry will analyse and respond to any in-scope submissions. After this the Director will consider further drafting improvements of revised C6.