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

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Poland (Ratification: 1964)

1.  The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government’s report in response to its comments. It notes with interest the Government’s indication that the draft Atomic Law has been discussed at the occasion of its first reading in Parliament and subsequently has been sent to a subcommission for further work. As to the content of the draft Atomic Law, the Committee notes that the effective dose limits in occupational exposure of workers to ionizing radiation will be fixed by a regulation, but that the maximum permissible doses will be 50 mSv in any single year, but not exceeding 100 mSv, averaged over five consecutive years. The Committee would consider that these threshold limits would be in conformity with article 9 of the European Commission Directive 96/29 Euratom, as well as with the 1990 ICRP Recommendations, and thus would apply the provisions of Articles 3 and 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

2.  The Committee further notes the Government’s indication to the effect that issues related to extreme exposure to ionizing radiation during and after an emergency will be governed by regulations of a lower rank than an Act of Parliament, but that the draft Atomic Law would serve as a legal basis with regard to the scope of application of the regulation. Moreover, the draft Atomic Law lays down the general principle according to which workers who are called to intervene in emergency situations after an accident may not receive higher doses than those established for any worker engaged in radiation work. This general principle, however, provides for two exceptions as follows: the maximum permissible doses tolerated for persons who are acting to prevent either serious loss of health or a larger scale of catastrophe, or who are acting to avoid a high exposure of a considerable number of people may not exceed 100 mSv. The maximum permissible doses for persons who are participating in actions to rescue human life may not exceed 500 mSv. It thus would appear to the Committee that these provisions would correspond to the requirements of Article 13 of the Convention, as specified by the Committee in its conclusions under item 35(c)(iii) of the 1992 general observation under the Convention.

3.  The Committee finally notes the Government’s indication that the annex to the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 18 November 1983 provides for a list of occupational diseases and that item 8 particularly refers to "occupational diseases resulting from ionizing radiation, including malignant neoplasm". It further notes that workers having received the maximum permissible doses of ionizing radiation, as fixed under the respective provisions of the draft Atomic Law, must undergo medical examinations. In the event the continuation of employment involving an exposure to ionizing radiation is not considered advisable according to medical opinion, the draft Atomic Law guarantees the worker’s transfer to another post where the worker will not be subject to exposure to ionizing radiation, which would give effect to Article 14 of the Convention on alternative employment.

4.  The Committee, taking due note of this information, hopes that the draft Atomic Law will be adopted in the near future in order to ensure effective protection of workers exposed to ionizing radiation in the course of their work. It requests the Government to supply a copy as soon as the draft Atomic Law is adopted as well as a copy of the regulation to be issued in application of the draft Atomic Law.