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

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Slovakia (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report in reply to its previous comments concerning Article 7(2) of the Convention on the prohibition against employing young persons under 16 in work involving exposure to radiation.

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.

Article 6(2) of the Convention. Maximum permissible doses. The Committee previously noted that section 9(2) of Regulation No. 345/2006, on basic safety requirements for protection of the health of workers and the general public against the effects of ionizing radiation, prescribes that the permissible dose to the lens of the eye is 50 mSv per year. With reference to paragraphs 11 and 32 of its general observation of 2015, the Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to the most recent recommendations of the International Commission of Radiological Protection that recommend, for radiation workers, an equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 20 mSv per year, averaged over defined periods of five years, with no single year exceeding 50 mSv per year. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to review the permissible doses established with respect to the lens of the eye, in light of current knowledge.

Article 14. Discontinuation of assignment to work involving exposure to ionizing radiation pursuant to medical advice and alternative employment. The Committee previously noted that pursuant to section 125 of the Labour Code, workers transferred to other work due to a risk of contracting an occupational disease are entitled to supplementary pay, for a maximum period of 12 consecutive months from the day of the transfer, if the transfer would cause the workers to receive a lower salary. In this respect, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that if the worker is unable to return to their original post, section 54 of the Labour Code provides that they are to come to an agreement with their employer on a change of working conditions. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of sections 54 and 125 of the Labour Code to workers who, for medical reasons, can no longer perform work involving exposure to ionizing radiations.