Supporting RPAs with our radon calibration service
9th October 2025
At a glance
> Radon is a major source of ionising radiation in the UK, posing significant health risks and making accurate monitoring essential for compliance with IRR17.
> Our UK-based calibration service offers quick, cost-effective calibration of active radon monitors, helping RPAs maintain accurate readings and minimize equipment downtime.
> Calibrations are performed in a controlled radon chamber following manufacturer guidance, with the ability to adjust calibration factors directly for various monitor types.
Mitigating the risk of radon in the workplace
Promoting safe working practices and ensuring compliance with legal requirements such as IRR17 are a crucial part of working in radiation protection. One of the largest sources of ionising radiation in the UK is radon, and awareness amongst employers is growing. This radioactive gas is a notable health risk in industries such as mining and extraction, as well as for commercial businesses in high radon risk areas or with workspaces at basement level.
With the risk of internal contamination due to the radioactive daughters of radon, keeping your active radon monitor precise, accurate, and operational is vital for Radiation Protection Advisors.
Reliable, accurate radon monitoring
Southern Scientific’s UK-based laboratory provides calibration services for active radon monitors. With testing performed by our Nuclear Services Department at our head office in Sussex, it provides RPAs with a quick, competitively priced calibration service reducing downtime and maximizing availability for those with only a single active radon monitor. Whether you’re a single RPA working alone or part of a larger radiation protection business, our calibration service allows you to be certain that readings produced by your monitors are reliable and accurate when assessing potential health risks to your clients.
Calibrating a range of different active monitors
Our laboratory follows manufacturer’s guidance with calibrations carried out in a controlled environmental radon chamber for precision and to limit the influence of external ambient conditions. The chamber allows radon levels to be reduced to near zero and increased to hundreds of kBq/m3, depending on the instruments working range, for increased calibration ranges. By working closely with leading manufacturers, we can offer direct adjustments to the calibration factors of some instruments, ensuring that your monitor always reads the correct value without any additional calculation. We can calibrate active monitors from a range of suppliers including Bertin Instruments’ AlphaE, AlphaS, and AlphaGuard, Airthings Corentium (formerly known as Canary), and many more.
Find out more
If you’d like to know more about our new service, our loyalty programme available to RPAs, or have a radon monitor that needs calibrating, click the button below to speak to us directly.