Occupational Protection in Medicine

Occupational Exposure in Medical NIR Applications

We were pleased to co-organize a hybrid workshop Workshop on "Occupational Exposure in Medicine" on 20 May 2026 together with  ICOH Radiation and Work, bringing together around 100 participants both online and onsite at the Fondazione Marco Biagi. Many thanks to Alberto Modenese from UNIMORE, Modena for his great hospitality.

The workshop created valuable opportunities for exchange with an audience from around 20 countries worldwide, while also fostering a fruitful dialogue between experts from both organizations. Discussions focused on current challenges, safety considerations, and emerging developments in this rapidly evolving field. As medical NIR technologies are already widely used and continue to expand across healthcare applications, raising awareness and strengthening understanding of occupational exposure is becoming increasingly important.

We would like to extend our thanks to the five speakers who shared their expertise on key topics:

• Occupational Health Surveillance of workers exposed to NIR - Fabriziomaria Gobba (International Commission on Occupational Health - ICOH)
• Safety of NIR Cosmetic Applications - Ken Karipidis (ICNIRP)
• Quo vadis, MRI Safety? - Luca Zilberti (National Metrology Institute of Italy - INRiM, Italy)
• MR Safety: Epidemiological Aspects - Frank de Vocht (ICNIRP)
• Optical Safety - Nigel Cridland (ICNIRP)

The active participation and collaborative spirit throughout the event also highlighted promising opportunities for future cooperation and joint initiatives between our organizations.