10.6 RF RISK ASSESSMENT
Once RF hazards have been identified, they must be assessed so that exposure-limit compliance can be established and appropriate controls selected. Exposure assessment asks what fields, power densities, absorbed quantities, or contact-current conditions may occur. Risk assessment places those results in the context of the people, tasks, operating states, and reasonably foreseeable failures involved.
RPS S-1 requires the risk-management process to include assessment of exposure levels and comparison with the relevant exposure limits. Those limits are compliance criteria, not risk scores that can be traded against likelihood or operational benefit. A qualitative risk rating cannot justify exposure above an applicable limit. Its role is to help prioritize controls and other actions after the exposure conditions and compliance status have been established.
An RF risk assessment should be performed before a new installation is commissioned or a new task begins. It should also be reviewed when equipment, transmitter power, frequencies, antenna configuration, software-controlled operating modes, work procedures, occupancy, or nearby structures change; when an incident, near miss, or control failure occurs; and at scheduled intervals.
10.6.1 Establishing The Assessment Scope
The first stage is to define the workplace, site, installation, source, task, or combination of these covered by the assessment.
The scope should identify the equipment, people, locations, work activities, and source operating states involved. It should distinguish routine operation from commissioning, testing, fault finding, maintenance, emergency work, restoration, and other non-routine tasks. Maximum intended operation and reasonably foreseeable abnormal conditions should be included where they can affect exposure.
The assessment should assign people to the applicable exposure category. Under RPS S-1, these categories include RF Workers, Controlled Area Workers, Aware Users, Supervised Visitors, and members of the general public. Contractors are classified according to their work, training, supervision, and potential exposure, not simply by their employment status.