This Is Guernsey

ALL mobile masts in Guernsey are said to be within safety standards set by the Office of Utility Regulation.

It conducted a survey in April to ensure that each site complied with guidelines laid down by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.

And although sharing masts had increased the cumulative emissions from certain sites, these were all still well within the limits. Out of the 66 places tested, Cable & Wireless’s mast at Centenary House recorded the highest level of emissions. However, even this was 22 times below the ICNIRP guidelines.

The mobile mast with the lowest reading was Wave’s at the Castel Hospital, which was more than three million times below. ‘This audit will, I hope, provide reassurance to islanders that the telecoms companies are taking their obligations seriously and that there is an independent check to ensure that this will  remain the case,’ said OUR director-general John Curran.

It was also reassuring, he said, that even with increased site-sharing, all continued to comply with the most stringent safety guidelines.

The audit reports from each site are available on the OUR website, while the location and emissions levels from each site will also be displayed on the States Digimap website for the first time.

The OUR will carry out spot checks at 15 sites in 2009 and 2010.

These will take into consideration the further sites that have become operational since the audit was carried out.

The ICNIRP guidelines were also reviewed by the OUR to ensure that they were the most appropriate standard for Guernsey to assess against.

Its adviser, Red-M, compared the guidelines from countries such as China, Russia, Switzerland and Italy.

‘The need to require operators to comply with an alternative to ICNIRP was examined, but we have not been provided with a convincing argument for using any standard other than its guidelines.

‘In fact, the World Health Organisation is seeking to get all countries to adopt the guidelines as a common standard, so the rationale for Guernsey moving in the opposite direction is lacking,’ said Mr Curran.

‘The guidelines continue to be recommended by the UK’s Health Promotion Agency and the European Commission.

‘However, it is worth noting that even using an alternative standard, such as that used by China or Russia, the measured emission levels from all but one site would still meet this standard.’