Associate Societies News
HPS Position Statement on Stakeholder Engagement
Last Updated on Thursday, 08 July 2010 17:01
The U.S. Health Physics Society has developed the following Position Statement in support of the IRPA Guiding Principles for Radiation Protection Professionals on Stakeholder Engagement. It is offered as an example to other IRPA Associate Societies that may wish to develop similar position statements in support of the IRPA Guiding Principles.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENTPOSITION STATEMENT OF THE
HEALTH PHYSICS SOCIETY
Adopted: January 2010
ContactRichard J. Burk, Jr. Executive Secretary Health Physics Society
Telephone: 703-790-1745
Fax: 703-790-2672
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it http://www.hps.org
The Health Physics Society endorses the Guiding Principles for Radiation Protection Professionals on Stakeholder Engagement developed by the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA). The document (IRPA 08/08) that describes these principles in detail may be downloaded from the IRPA Web site at http://www.irpa.net/.
The guiding principles are:
1. Identify opportunities for engagement and ensure the level of engagement is proportional to the nature of the radiation protection issues and their context.
2. Initiate the process as early as possible, and develop a sustainable implementation plan.
3. Enable an open, inclusive, and transparent stakeholder engagement process.
4. Seek out and involve relevant stakeholders and experts.
5. Ensure that the roles and responsibilities of all participants, and the rules for cooperation, are clearly defined.
6. Collectively develop objectives for the stakeholder engagement process, based on a shared understanding of issues and boundaries.
7. Develop a culture that values a shared language and understanding and favors collective learning.
8. Respect and value the expression of different perspectives.
9. Ensure a regular feedback mechanism is in place to inform and improve current and future stakeholder engagement processes.
10. Apply the IRPA Code of Ethics in their actions within these processes to the best of their knowledge. (Note: the Code of Ethics for members of the Health Physics Society is essentially identical to the IRPA Code.)
Although stakeholder engagement processes are more common in the United States than they may be elsewhere, and in fact are required by law in many circumstances, the Health Physics Society believes that adoption and implementation of the principles above will improve the process and lead to more effective public discussion and resolution of issues regarding the uses of ionizing radiation and radioactive materials.