IEEE C95.7-2014

This recommended practice presents guidelines and procedures that could form the basis of a radio frequency exposure safety program1 (RFSP) that provides reasonable and adequate guidance for preventing exposures above applicable radio frequency (RF) limits associated with RF sources that operate in the frequency range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz under many circumstances. This is a general-purpose document intended for application in most RF exposure scenarios with the goal of avoiding potentially hazardous exposures to electromagnetic fields, currents, and/or contact voltages. In some complex cases, however, the required elements of an adequate RFSP may exceed those described in this document. In such cases, additional guidance may be necessary to affect a satisfactory RF safety solution. There are many ways of accomplishing the goal of a satisfactory RF safety program. While this recommended practice outlines certain schemes for providing a safe environment for persons who may be exposed to excessive levels of electromagnetic energy, other schemes may be equally effective. These guidelines are provided to assist in the development of RF safety programs for the safe use of RF energy-producing devices, equipment, and systems, and to prevent exposures in excess of applicable RF limits for workers or the public. The means for accomplishing this are by first characterizing areas into one of four exposure categories according to the potential risk for exposure above prescribed RF exposure limits, as described in 1.3, and then, where relevant, specifying the appropriate controls to reduce the likelihood of over-exposure. For many situations, this guidance will assist in the development of site-specific RF safety programs, while in others the programs may be developed to apply across a wide range of exposure environments. These guidelines are designed to complement the ICES TC-95 family of standards on electromagnetic safety, but may find use in the development of effective programs for conformance with other guidelines, standards, or regulations for controlling human exposure to electromagnetic energy. This recommended practice provides guidelines for establishing RF safety programs, but other recommendations may already exist that are deemed sufficient by local regulatory authorities for achieving RF safety in particular environments. Hence, other recommendations could potentially replace or be used in conjunction with the recommendations in this document. Guidelines developed for specific applications, for example, radio amateur operations [B3] and electrical transmission/distribution personnel working near mobile phone base-station antennas installed on electric utility structures [B21], represent two such examples. Revision Standard - Superseded. Elements of a radio frequency (RF) exposure safety program that provide reasonable and adequate guidance for preventing exposures in excess of recognized limits to electromagnetic fields from RF sources that operate in the frequency range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz are described in IEEE Std C95.7(TM)-2014. The means for accomplishing this are classifying exposure locations into one of four categories based on the potential hazard, as defined by exposure limits, and specifying appropriate controls for each category. Such controls include engineering and administrative controls as well as the use of personal protective equipment, placement of appropriate RF safety signage, designation of restricted access areas, the use of personal RF monitors, and RF safety awareness training. These recommendations are not intended to apply to the purposeful exposure of patients by or under the direction of medical practitioners, but can be used in the development of safety programs for medical staff and other persons working with or incidentally exposed to RF fields, and for those wearing implanted or external medical electronic devices. Although designed to complement IEEE Std C95.1(TM), this recommended practice may also be used for the development of programs to ensure conformance with other guidelines, standards, or regulations for controlling human exposure to electromagnetic energy as well as IEEE Std C95.6(TM) in which case, appropriate modifications will be necessary to address the low frequency region addressed by IEEE Std C95.6(TM).