Inverness Justice Centre areas should have time limits report says, after heightened cancer-causing radon levels discovered

TWO areas of the Inverness Justice Centre should be subject to daily limits on the amount of time any individual remains within them.

Worried Inverness Justice Centre users hit by a health scare over a cancer-causing gas met last week with senior Scottish court officials.

As we reported, members of staff, lawyers, social workers, media and other users of the £24 million building were given a full briefing on latest findings by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) after the revelations of seven days ago that dangerously elevated levels of radon gas had been recorded in parts of the Longman Road building.

Certain areas were evacuated and staff were moved to other parts of the building to avoid “potential harm”.

Radon, while naturally-occurring, is a gas produced by the radioactive decay of uranium, found in all rocks and soils.

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With certain levels of exposure, it can significantly increase the risk of lung cancer, particularly when inhaled in high concentrations over long periods of time.

At the meeting, those potentially affected by the problem were told what measures were being taken to reduce future risk.

Now we have seen a copy of a report produced by Bureau Veritas UK Ltd after it undertook radon monitoring at the centre from October 2024 to January this year which found radon readings above “action levels” in the witness services office and the cell area storage room.

Levels in the Police Scotland office within the building were also found to be “borderline” according to the report.

The report recommends annual montioring of levels in the building and also suggests nobody should occupy the witness services room for longer than two hours 30 minutes per day while the limit for the cell area storage room should be seven hours 40 minutes.

And it adds: “Given the high levels recorded on site, consideration must be given to installing engineering controls, especially given these areas have the potential to be occupied for an extended period, meaning a time restriction alone is not sufficient.”