What kind of work might expose me to EMFs?

Any kind of electrical equipment can generate EMFs, so all UK workers will be exposed to EMFs both at home and at work. However, these exposures are likely to be low.

However, tens of thousands of UK workers are potentially exposed to more significant EMFs. They include workers doing a wide range of jobs in many industries, such as:

• antennae maintenance workers in broadcasting, navigation and telecommunications;

• electricity supply and generation workers;

• drivers of electric trains;

• electrochemical processing workers;

• healthcare workers using diathermy, hypothermia and nuclear magnetic resonance equipment;

• semiconductor workers who use plasma etchers;

• engineers who use crack-detection equipment;

• people who work with RF sputterers (machines used to apply coatings to various components inside a vacuum chamber);

• welders;

• people who work with dielectric or induction heaters; and

• people who work with electronic article surveillance equipment used to prevent retail theft.

Following advice from the National Radiological Protection Board, the Health and Safety Executive has asked the Institute of Occupational Health in Birmingham to set up a register of workers occupationally exposed to EMFs.