The AMWU has welcomed a review into safety at ANSTO Health tabled in Federal Parliament today that recommends improvements to safety culture and ageing equipment and infrastructure.

The review found no immediate threat of radiation exposure for ANSTO workers or breaches of regulatory requirements, said AMWU NSW Secretary Tim Ayres, who was part of the review panel.

“However it does show that there’s a whole lot more that can be done to improve safety at ANSTO.”

Recommendations to improve safety include:

•    Bedding down a 'no blame' culture, so that workers can report safety concerns or incidents with no fear of blame or adverse consequences.

•    Upgrading infrastructure and equipment, reflecting the facility's transformation from its original role as a research-focused laboratory to a world-leading producer of medical isotopes.

•    Greater investment in hiring and training of specialist staff, especially maintenance staff, to address ongoing problems in equipment maintenance.

"ANSTO is a very important facility to Australia, the medical products made there deliver enormous public good. We should be supporting this industry and encouraging the development of its export capacity," said Mr Ayres.

"However, this is a nuclear facility and there's no room to compromise on workplace safety. In the past, our members have expressed a concern that ANSTO hasn't always valued safety highly enough.

"The AMWU works closely with ANSTO on safety issues and will continue to do so as we work on implementing the recommendations of this review."

ANSTO Health is the division of the ANSTO nuclear facility at Sydney's Lucas Heights that produces medical radiopharmaceuticals. The AMWU represents ANSTO Health technicians.