So you are a rooftop or access worker that has undertaken some training and now has a greater understanding around Radio Frequency. You turn up to work on a site and there are antennas transmitting into the space that you need to access. Your Employer undertakes a risk assessment and contacts the antenna operators who will not turn off the antennas. The operator informs that you shouldnt be exposed to harmful levels of RF. Are you happy with this? Probably not but the job needs to get done right? So what can be done?
RF Monitors
Although the last line of defence, RF monitors can be used to afford some protection and provide a warning if the wearer is being subject to harmful levels of RF. A few things to know about RF Monitors:-
You get what you pay for
Cheap units will not provide adequate protection
Some antenna operators insist on certain monitors being used on their sites
Taking 1 and 2 together...RF monitors are electronically complex pieces of equipment. The better RF monitors can 'pick-up' radio frequency from 360 degrees and can 'aggregate' the signals that come from multiple different antennas. They are designed so that they have a so-called shaped response which means that they alarm at pre-determined levels in accordance with the international guidelines (ICNIRP etc) and limits for the frequency the antennas are operating at. And...the better RF monitors cannot be purchased for much less than £500! You are probably thinking that this is prohibitive for one-off or occasional use and you may be right. However, employers of access workers should not be tempted to purchase cheap units off the internet as they will not function appropriately and will leave the worker, quite literally exposed. Employers may be able to purchase a small pool of monitors that are used when their risk assessment deems it necessary and there are a few companies that will hire units out such as EMC Hire and Electrorent
Getting hold of a RF Monitor
Some antenna operators, such as Arqiva in the UK, have a list of 'accepted' RF monitors that have undergone sufficient laboratory testing and a functional assessment of their capabilities in telecommunications environments. These monitors can range in price from approximately £500 to £2700 and can be found in the Appendix at the back of the document linked above.
Traditionally, Narda products have dominated the RF monitor market in the UK which are distributed by Link Microtek. Their Nardalert XT and Nardalert S3 models are often used by telecommunications workers when working on and around antennas as they are high quality and cover a wide frequency range.
More recently, Fieldsense have introduced some market competition with their Fieldsense 2.0 RF monitor which has a wide frequency range, is Arqiva-accepted and is very competitively priced. The monitors do not cover low and medium frequencies but will cover TV and most telecommunications antennas which are the most ubiquitous antennas in urban environments. A video on the Fieldsense 2.0 can be viewed here. https://www.fieldsense.com/fieldsense2/ and units can be purchased from the main distributor D&M Systems and Test
Wrap-Up
So if you are a rooftop, access worker or Employer this should give you a better idea of how to go about procuring a suitable RF monitor to ensure protection against this invisible hazard. For more information contact radiation@network-safety.co.uk
