Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Netherlands (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report.

It notes with interest the Government’s indication that on 28 April 2000 a draft decree on radiation protection which is expected to come into force at the end of the year 2000 was submitted to Parliament. This draft decree incorporates provisions of basic safety standards of the European Union (Euratom), such as the Basic Safety Directive 96/29/Euratom of 1996 and the Medical Radiation Treatment Directive 97/43/Euratom, into national legislation. In this regard, the Committee notes that the incorporation of the Directive 96/29/Euratom into national legislation would implement at the same time the recommendations given by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in 1990 (Publication No. 60). As to the content of this draft decree, the Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication that the effective dose limits for workers are fixed at a lower level than the dose limits set out in the respective Directive 96/29/Euratom and those recommended by the ICRP in its publication No. 60, 1990 (Article 3, paragraph 2, and Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention), and that the maximum permissible dose limits for workers who are not directly engaged in radiation work would be set at 1 mSv per year (Article 8) which constitutes the same dose limit as for members of the public. The Government further declares that the draft decree also contains provisions with respect to the medical surveillance of workers exposed to ionizing radiation (Article 12) as well as provisions concerning alternative employment for workers who have exceeded their lifetime dose limits and provisions with respect to tolerated dose limits for occupational exposure during and after an emergency. The Committee, taking due note of this information, requests the Government to forward a copy of the draft decree once it has been adopted in order to enable the Committee to determine the extent to which this decree applies the provisions of the Convention.