Radiation Protection Rules 1971 which has been promulgated in October 1971 under Atomic Energy Act 1962, requires trained manpower in radiation safety for use of radioactive material. Before these rules came into force, informal training programmes in radiation safety in the industrial applications of radioisotopes were being conducted in BARC. Initially there was no professional body for conducting certification programmes in radiation safety. Subsequently the Competent Authority in 1978 i. e. Head, Division of Radiological Protection, BARC started certification programmes in radiation safety in accordance with the radiation protection rules 1971 Now the Competent authority for the enforcement of radiation protection rules is Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and with their approval, Radiological Physical Division of BARC is conducting certification programmes in radiation safety in industrial radiography, nucleonic gauges and other applications of radioisotopes including medicine and research. Over the years many programmes were devolved and conducted and are modified from time to time based on the feedback and experience gained. Present status of training programmes, manpower requirement and future growth expected in another five years has been detailed out in this paper. Safety awareness programmes have contributed substantially in controlling the radiation hazard by bringing down the radiation doses to the individual radiation workers as well as collective doses.
Certification programme in industrial radiography are conducted at three levels, i. e. (1) for industrial radiographers, (2) site incharges, (3) Radiation safety officers. So far about 2000 radiographers are certified out of whom some are promoted to Site incharge and some have gone abroad. Available number of radiographers are approximately 500.So there is a great demand for these programmes. In association with Isotope Division of BARC, about 1500 site incharges have been trained and about 400 are available at job sites. About 100 radiation safety officers have been trained out of whom about 70 are on job.
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