Nuclear Accidents that Have Happened in Hospitals
Workplaces have become a lot safer than they used to be – we have learned a lot from the past and there are now lots of regulations in place to help protect the people who are at work. Health and safety rules and guidelines are put in place, and it is also good to have staff members who are had a professional training in first aid, such as this first aid at work Cheltenham based training – visit Tidal Training Direct to find out more.
Something that has long been a concern and has caused many deadly accidents is nuclear energy – whether working in a laboratory, or in a power plant, there have been many accidents worldwide since the splitting of the atom. We have all heard of the large power plant accidents like Chernobyl, Windscale and Fukushima – But what about those smaller ones that have been caused by the very places intended to cure people – hospitals?
The Goiania Accident – This took place in Brazil in 1987 and ended up contaminating a large area of the village. When two thieves stole a machine from a closed down hospital, they just wanted the metal for scrap – but they opened the protective casing exposing the radioactive substance inside, something which led to four deaths and hundreds of people being exposed to the high radiation levels.
The Zaragoza Radiotherapy Incident – This took place in Spain only three years after the accident that happened in Brazil. It was caused by a machine being repaired incorrectly, where it then went on to cause huge problems for the people who came into contact with it – it was putting out far too much power, and fatalities from over exposure were recorded until it was discovered that the machine was the cause.
