Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

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

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.

Articles 3(1) and 6(1) of the Convention. Dose limits for pregnant women and for the protection of the embryo/foetus. The Committee notes that pursuant to section 80(1) of the Decree on Radiation Protection, the employer must ensure that the working conditions for pregnant workers are such that the equivalent dose for the unborn child is as low as reasonably achievable and that it is improbable that this dose will exceed 1 mSv. The Committee also notes that pursuant to section 72, if a worker may be pregnant, special attention should be paid to the justification of exposure and the optimization of radiation protection, which takes into account the dosage for both the woman and the unborn child. In this respect, the Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to paragraph 33 of its general observation of 2015, which provides that the methods of protection at work for women who are pregnant should provide a level of protection for the embryo/foetus broadly similar to that provided for members of the public, for which the annual effective dose limit is 1 mSv. Noting that section 80(1) of the Decree on Radiation Protection provides that working conditions must make it improbable for the dose to exceed 1 mSv for the unborn child, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the methods of protection at work for workers who are pregnant.

Articles 6(2) and 7(2). Dose limits in occupational exposure and dose limits for persons between 16 and 18 years of age. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that amendments to the Decree on Radiation Protection came into effect in January 2014. It notes in this regard that pursuant to section 77(1)(b)(1°) of the Decree on Radiation Protection, the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye for radiation workers is of 150 mSv in one year and that pursuant to section 78(3)(b)(1°), the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye for workers between 16 and 18 years of age is of 50 mSv in one year. With reference to paragraphs 11, 13, 32 and 34 of its 2015 general observation, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the most recent recommendations of the International Commission for Radiological Protection according to which the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye for radiation workers should be 20 mSv, averaged over defined periods of five years, with no single year exceeding 50 mSv per year, and for students and apprentices between the ages of 16 and 18 who use sources of radiation in the course of their studies, an equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 20 mSv/year. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to review, in light of current knowledge, the maximum permissible doses established with respect to the lens of the eye for radiation workers and for students and apprentices between 16 and 18 years of age.