The National Dose Registry-Canadian occupational exposure to ionising radiation, 1998-2018

The National Dose Registry (NDR) is owned and operated independently by Health Canada. This paper provides an overview of how the registry operates within the Canadian regulatory structure, followed by an analysis of annual effective dose trends in nine job classes with relatively higher mean annual effective doses, i.e. greater than 1 mSv as reported in 2017. The analysis showed that, with a few exceptions, mean annual effective doses have generally decreased or remained practically unchanged in the past two decades at relatively low exposure levels. This review of occupational dose trends is evidence of the effectiveness of radiation protection programmes in Canada. The NDR has played an important role in the identification of relatively higher dose records and allowed the regulatory bodies to act immediately to ensure appropriate actions were taken.