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Radio Waves |
Owners and Managers responsible |
Owners and managers of properties which house radio communications towers or antennas have strict obligations to limit exposure to electromagnetic radiation by those who visit relevant parts of the premises. |
Radio communications sites are commonly located on buildings because they offer good coverage by, for example, offering line of sight to a CBD or a major highway. They can be found on buildings such as hotels, hospitals, apartment blocks, office buildings, industrial and rural properties. There are an estimated 10,000 such sites in NSW. |
The sites are not just mobile phone towers or antennas. They include the radio communications of taxi companies, paging companies and radio and TV broadcasters. |
A legal standard establishes limits for exposure to electromagnetic radiation by setting general public and occupational exposure reference levels. (A member of the public is any person who is not a "trained RF worker" - broadly, these are the employees or contractors of radio communication licensees, such as the technicians who install, maintain or remove the equipment.) The roof-tops of buildings which house such equipment are commonly visited by a surprising range of people, including lift mechanics, window cleaners, maintenance workers, construction industry personnel, public health inspectors, airconditioning mechanics and, last but not least, the occasional smoker escaping from a smokefree workplace. |
The legal standard sets out a procedure to ensure against over-exposure. It includes determining areas where no access should be permitted, providing appropriate signs, and informing the relevant authority if exposure exceeds the limits. |
Those in charge of premises used by people as a place of work have a legal obligation to ensure the premises are safe and without risks to health. It is common for building managers to have little or no idea what antennas are on their roof-tops. The 'forgotten floor' may be littered with antennas installed on the basis of little more than a handshake. Some managers are even unaware of what antennas are operated by their own organisation. |
The fact that carriers at a site comply with safety codes does not mean site controllers are meeting their legal obligations. |
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