Abstract
The Radiation Safety Institute of Canada, a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to radiation safety, operates a free Workplace Enquiries and Information Service in Radiation Safety. This unique programme aims to prevent unintended radiation exposure and long-term occupational disease caused by radiation exposure, while also raising awareness about ionising and non-ionising radiation safety throughout Canada. Lessons learned from decades of providing ‘Good Science in Plain Language®’ can contribute to prevention efforts of organisations worldwide.
HISTORY
The Radiation Safety Institute of Canada (RSIC; the Institute) operates as an independent, not-for-profit Canadian charity with a primary focus on radiation protection. The Institute refrains from taking a stance for or against the use of nuclear materials, concentrating solely on promoting radiation safety. The overarching guiding principle, ‘Good Science in Plain Language®’, articulates the successful method of communication of scientific and regulatory information to a broad national audience for over four decades. RSIC's approach to awareness building and communications has been significantly influenced by its history.
The Institute was founded in 1980 in response to the Elliot Lake mining disaster. Mining of uranium in Canada started in the 1930s to help support the Manhattan Project (Andrews et al., 2021). The discovery of a substantial uranium ore deposit near what is now Elliot Lake, Ontario, in 1953 led to the rapid development of the town and mining infrastructure. From 1955 to 1990, the Elliot Lake mines were a major source of global uranium. However, excess cases of silicosis and lung cancer emerging in the mining population prompted a wildcat strike in April 1974. The ensuing Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines, informally named the Ham Commission after its chair James Ham, resulted in significant recommendations and laid the groundwork for contemporary Occupational Health and Safety Practices (Sefton-MacDowell, 2022).
In response to the tragic events at the Elliot Lake mines, the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada was established under the Canadian Institute for Radiation Safety (CAIRS). The Institute's early efforts concentrated on safeguarding workers exposed to ionising radiation in Canada's uranium mining industry, including initiatives such as an early lung cancer detection and treatment programme. Over the years, the Institute expanded its services, investing in cutting-edge technology for monitoring radiation exposure and relocating laboratory services to Saskatoon when the mining industry shifted to Saskatchewan. RSIC underwent a name change in 1999 and experienced a substantial laboratory expansion in 2012.
FREE INFORMATION SERVICE
Beyond its origins in laboratory services for underground uranium mining, RSIC has consistently engaged in the communication of scientific, risk, and regulatory information regarding radiation to the Canadian public. One of the original objects of incorporation, ‘to serve as a public information and documentation centre on nuclear safety and radiation protection’, has since expanded in everyday practice to encompass all aspects of ionising and non-ionising radiation protection. Through its Workplace Enquiries and Information Service in Radiation Safety (Free Information Service; the Service), the Institute provides easy access to specialist scientists so that individuals and stakeholder groups have the information they need to make informed health and safety policy decisions.
Responsive interactions with stakeholders including workers, private individuals, managers, community groups, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and research groups consistently over time have led to the evolution and expansion of the Service. Stakeholder feedback has been gathered from conversations with those who use the Service or our training and consulting services, as well as occasional surveys of those on a mailing list developed over decades.
Starting from free hard-copy information pamphlets and a toll-free number, the Service gained a dedicated email address when the internet became mainstream. It now includes free courses on our eLearning portal, factsheets, toolkits, an online library, a blog, and several series of free webinars, webinar recordings, and associated resources. These resources are promoted through the mailing list and social media.
UNIQUE FEATURES
The impeccable reputation of this Service is built on impartiality, independence, and the ability to communicate with people in a concise, jargon-free manner. The commitment to translating scientific knowledge into plain language, coupled with a dedication to neutrality, gives the person enquiring evidence-based information to take away for consideration when making health and safety decisions.
Impartiality
The Institute's independence is a direct result of the governance of a multi-partite Board of Directors. The Board seeks and maintains representation from the three traditional sectors of industry, government, and labour. To this traditional triumvirate is added a fourth group of knowledgeable and experienced members of the public who support the Institute's mission. Thanks to its long history, the Board has an active advisory committee comprised of previous members.
Independence
While regulators often provide a great deal of information to the public, there is a fundamental difference between RSIC as a not-for-profit service provider and a regulator. The main purpose of a regulator is to enforce the rules and regulations that are made through federal or provincial regulation. As such, employers who have questions as to whether they are following the rules properly or if they are doing the best that they can to protect the health and safety of workers can be hesitant to contact a regulator to ask such a question for fear of being found to be non-compliant with the regulations and accordingly charged or penalised. Similarly, workers might be hesitant to call a regulator if they are concerned that they may get their employer in trouble and be seen as a troublemaker. In these cases, people use the Service because RSIC is a not-for-profit organisation that is not a regulator.
Individual regulators have specific mandates which can limit the type of assistance and expertise they can provide. People contact the Institute to give an overall picture of the regulatory landscape and to find reputable resources for their area of interest all in one location.
Concise communication
A copious amount of information about radiation is easily found. However, information overload can negatively impact the quality of decisions (Arnold et al., 2023). People reach out to the Institute to help put the information available to them in perspective and fill in gaps in their base knowledge. All scientists involved in the Service have a minimum of a master's degree in science; some are experienced health physicists; some currently work in radiation protection; some have degrees in education, and all have experience teaching in schools, postsecondary, or adult education.
Experienced in reading scientific materials, actively working in the industry, and frequently teaching regulatory topics, these scientists take the time to listen to the question at hand, determine the questioner's level of technical language, and communicate with them the concepts related to the enquiry. Through all these enquiries, people are treated with respect. There is a conversation to determine knowledge gaps and level of comfort with the information, and then they are provided with science-based information from resources such as ICRP, ICNIRP, IAEA, NCRP, HPS, and CRPA as well as our Canadian regulators to put the risks in perspective.
Fluency in both official languages of Canada, English and French, further enhances the Institute's ability to provide informed assistance.
COMMON ENQUIRIES
Examples of inquiries, such as concerns about iPhone radiation, lost nuclear gauge sources, or issues at recycling centres, underscore the diverse range of topics handled by the Institute's Service. Common inquiry topics include radon, electromagnetic radiation, regulations, radiation exposure, and dosimetry.
Members of the public often call concerned about radiation exposure because of what is in the news. For example, the war in Ukraine brings forth calls about concerns for the safety of the nuclear reactors located there. In 2011, the Service received a number of calls from people in Canada afraid to eat sushi or import cars from Japan as a result of the Fukushima incident; one person who planned to import a samurai sword called to question the safety of doing so.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Institute staff works to dispel concerns and myths about radiation through education and awareness efforts. A common example in public education is comparing the relative cancer risk of exposure to non-ionising EMF to ionising radon gas. Such activities can alleviate unnecessary worry and concern on the part of workers and help employers and organisations make reasonable and cost-effective decisions regarding radiation safety.
In the past 3 years, the majority of people who indicated how they found the Service did so either by searching on the Internet or because they had an interaction with RSIC previously. The vast majority, 92%, of people using the enquiry line or email are from Canada. And while the current scientific staff are able to answer most enquiries internally, about 23% of the time, people are referred further. These are usually matters of passing people along to the correct regulator or letting them know about what sort of services or resources they should be looking for and giving them ways to determine if service providers are legitimate. Enquiries are usually handled over the phone and followed up with an email, but some occur solely over email.
EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS
Summary of statistics on the Service:
A total of 353 direct enquiries between January 2021 and September 2023 Social media and direct outreach: April 2022–June 2023
YouTube: seven videos (six webinars plus one instructional) added. Subscribers up 163%. Views of all content as of 30 June 2023 reached 30,000, a 37% increase over 20 June 2022 Facebook: 72 posts. Unique user view increase 33%. Content interaction increase 47%. Page’s new likes increase 21% Twitter/X: 75 tweets. Impressions during reporting period: 5698 LinkedIn: 29 posts, 321 new followers, 929 page views Electronic outreach direct mail campaigns: eight during the reporting period totalling 76,670 unique emails. The mailing list grew by 1170 to just over 10,500. Webinars: April 2022–June 2023
Registration average: 215 per episode, increasing each year over 3 years YouTube views of the six created in this time frame: ∼18,000 Website views: April 2022–June 2023
Approximately 160,000 unique visitors to the company website Approximately 25,700 visitors to the eLearning site Total number of visits between the two sites: >473,400 and >3.3 million page views.
LESSONS LEARNED
RSIC started over 40 years ago, communicating risk to workers in the middle of a health crisis. The Institute has evolved to become a unique voice in radiation safety in Canada. Below is what has been learned through the delivery of the Service.
It is one thing to speak. It is another to be heard. People have listened in large part because the Institute has been successful in building trust with its stakeholders. Impartiality and expertise are foundational to those relationships.
Know who you are. It is the key to integrity. You cannot build trust and respect without it.
Hire the right people: people with a high level of education and who can set their egos aside, are happy to share their knowledge, and are not afraid to say they do not know but will look for more information.
It is not enough to explain the science; you have to understand where people are coming from. So do not just talk, listen. It is important to spend time getting to know the person or community. Tailor communications to the needs of the audience.
Accept that some people will not be open to the information being presented at the current time. But keep your communications channels open if they wish to engage again.
To stay relevant, actively invite feedback from those who engage with you; be responsive to change and experiment with different media formats; seek out opportunities for outreaching a variety of groups; and build networks of experts who might contribute to the radiation safety conversation.
CONCLUSION
The impact of the Service goes far beyond the actual numbers of individual clients served or audiences engaged. The overarching goal of the Service is the prevention of occupational illness (particularly cancer of any kind due to excessive radiation exposure) and radiation-related injuries (e.g. radiation burns). Because ionising radiation can only be detected with specialised instrumentation and cancer latency periods are long, there is a risk that its management will be of reduced priority compared to more immediately visible hazards.
In addition to the immeasurable non-monetary benefits to individuals who take steps to reduce their cancer risk as a result of obtaining good information, even one prevented cancer makes a financial difference for the individual, the employer, and society at large. The costs are significant and have been increasing over time (de Oliveira et al., 2018; Essue et al., 2020; Iragorri et al., 2020, 2021; Mittmann et al., 2020). Increased awareness and safety recognition reduce potential risks of accidental exposure and possible occupational cancers, saving the healthcare systems and workers’ compensation systems considerable amounts.
For these benefits to occur, people must act on the information being presented. Jurisdictions wishing to successfully deliver health and safety information to a public sphere might consider the creation of an independent not-for-profit or the implementation of aspects of the Institute's delivery model and lessons learned within existing science communications channels.