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Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Lithuania (RATIFICATION: 2013)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report.

General observation of 2015. The Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to its general observation of 2015 under this Convention, and in particular to the request for information contained in paragraph 30 thereof.

Legislation. The Committee notes with interest the Law on Radiation Protection, entered into force on 1 April 1999 and last amended in 2011, and the Hygiene Standard HN 73:2001 “Basic Standard of Radiation Protection”, approved by Order No. 663 on 21 December 2001 of the Minister of Health and last amended in 2014, which give effect to most of the provisions of the Convention.

Article 7(2) of the Convention. Prohibition concerning engagement of workers under the age of 16 in work involving ionizing radiation. The Committee notes that under section 13(2) of the Law on Radiation Protection, persons in the age group of 16 to 18 may perform work with sources of ionizing radiation only for the purposes of professional training and not exceeding the limits of exposure established by the Ministry of Health. These limits are indicated in the Hygiene Standard HN 73:2001. The Committee notes however that these two legal texts do not contain provisions prohibiting explicitly the engagement in work involving ionizing radiations of workers under the age of 16, in accordance with Article 7(2) of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to prohibit explicitly the engagement in such work of workers under the age of 16.

Article 8. Dose limits for workers not directly engaged in radiation work. The Committee notes that, in accordance with the Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM of 5 December 2013, the Hygiene Standard HN 73:2001 provides for two categories of exposed workers: category A workers are workers who may receive an annual effective dose exceeding 6 mSv and category B workers are workers not classified as category A workers. The protection of category B workers is the same as for apprentices (students) aged between 16 and 18 years. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that all workers not assigned as category A or B (exposed) workers are considered as members of the public. With reference to paragraphs 14 and 35 of its 2015 general observation, the Committee recalls that the standards contained in the publication “Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards (General Safety Requirements Part 3)”, issued in July 2014 by the International Atomic Energy Agency require employers, registrants and licensees to ensure that workers exposed to radiation from sources within a practice that are not required by or directly related to their work have the same level of protection against such exposure as members of the public. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the dose limits for workers not directly engaged in radiation work, but who remain or pass where they may be exposed to ionizing radiations, are the same as those applied to the members of the public.