The Communications Committee is appointed by Council under the Engagement Directorate to facilitate communication internally within SRP and externally to our key audiences and stakeholders regarding the activities and initiatives of the Society . These include communicating about our work carried out to meet the requirement of our Charter to promote , advance and disseminate , to the public benefit , knowledge of radiation protection and allied fields .
The Communications Committee currently has a membership of seven people and has continued to review and support all internal and external communications of the SRP . The Committee regularly monitors SRP Weekly , the Forums , Linkedin Page , Twitter , SRP Facebook , YouTube and other Society and organisations ' websites . These are discussed at regular Committee Meetings . SRP Weekly has been recognised as a good source of information for members and is well presented .
The first membership questionnaire was uploaded for membership completion during 2020 . It covered membership of SRP and SRP ' s new structure and aimed to determine members ' knowledge and understanding of the various initiatives currently being implemented , and their views on any improvements . Around 200 members completed the questionnaire which was sufficient to provide a general overview . Currently a second membership survey is being developed and will cover the SRP website and general communications .
An SRP procedure was written and approved by Council for posting items to social media and this will be implemented during 2021 .
The Committee continued to support the Media Officer and during the year responded to several requests from the media which included invited comments on particular news items , or scientific papers which were about to be released . We responded to these in a timely fashion whilst ensuring we retained the integrity of SRP and its members .
Events Committee Chair : John Bradshaw , Secretary : Kat Raines
The Events Committee and the South West Group , on behalf of the Society , maintain the scientific programme of meetings , workshops and seminars run by the various committees and organise the Annual Conference . During the COVID-19 restrictions , the Events Committee has set up a Webinar Working Group , led by Sarah Hunak , to develop a programme of online presentations which have been well received and viewed by significant numbers . See page 10 .
It is planned to continue these to support CPD , CRadP , IRadP and TechRadP development in addition to the planned physical programme which is currently scheduled for a full restart in 2021 . The Committee has plans for an event with NEA covering skills shortage in Radiation Protection .
Committee for Liaison with IRPA & Partner Societies Chair : John Croft , Secretary : Andy Bradley ( BNMS )
The Committee ' s work is primarily focused on delivering the Charter Objective to “ promote , advance and disseminate , to the public advantage , knowledge in Radiation Protection ”. The key elements of progress this year include :
• Further contributions were made to the drafting of IRPA ' s publication on ' Guidance for Engagement with the Public on Radiation and Risk '. This document was published on 1 October 2020 and has been well received .
• A major item of work has been stimulating and coordinating responses to the IRPA Consultations on their document on “ Reasonableness ” in the Optimisation of Radiation Protection . This provoked significant interest in the RP community and IRPA had a second round of Consultations , which resulted in the document going from a “ Statement ” to “ Guiding Principles ”. This is currently being finalised for publication by IRPA and will provide input from a “ practitioner ' s perspective ” to a work of ICRP .
• Officers of SRP took part in a virtual annual meeting of the Presidents of the European Societies .
The main piece of work during the year has been the preparation for , and engagement in , the IRPA15 International Congress in Seoul , hosted by the South Korean Society . It was originally scheduled for 10-15 May 2020 , but the impact of the Covid pandemic caused it to be postponed to 18 January to 5 February 2021 , with several iterations in the format , finally being a fully online virtual Congress with the General Assembly ( GA ) run separately a week before . Throughout members were encouraged to submit posters and papers . Within the Congress itself the UK was well represented in high profile speakers and session chairs . The Congress format could not support the normal Associate Societies Forum ( ASF ) but provided a web-based forum for contributions and discussion .
For the General Assembly detailed briefing was developed for our 13 Delegates . The key outcomes were :
• Claire-Louise Chapple ( SRP ) was elected to the IRPA Executive Committee ( EC ) by a significant majority on the first round of voting .
• For the first time a nominee from an African Society was elected to the EC . This together with the remaining place going to a nominee from Australia provided the geographical diversity that IRPA had been seeking , and which had been backed by our Delegation .
• The IRPA President , SRP member Roger Coates OBE , delivered the EC Report for the Term 2016 to 2020 . This had been a productive term with significant achievements to which the UK Societies had made many effective contributions .
Journal Board Editor : Richard Wakeford , Deputy Editor : Mike Thorne
Journal of Radiological Protection ( JRP ) is the Society ' s scientific journal , a joint enterprise with the Journal ' s publisher , IOP Publishing . The Journal Editorial Board is a committee jointly responsible to the Society and IOP Publishing , with a remit to maintain and improve the scientific quality of the content of the Journal and its standing in the radiological protection community . The Board includes
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