General Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115)

Introduction

Background

1. At its November–December 2014 session, the Committee deferred commenting on the application of the Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115), in view of the preparation of a new general observation on the Convention. This general observation updates the Committee’s previous general observation on the subject published in 1992, in light of: the publication of the 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), issued in ICRP Publication 103 (hereinafter ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103)); the ICRP Statement on Tissue Reactions/Early and Late Effects of Radiation in Normal Tissues and Organs – Threshold Doses for Tissue Reactions in a Radiation Protection Context, issued in ICRP Publication 118 in 2012; and the publication of a revised Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards (General Safety Requirements Part 3) (1) (hereinafter BSS 2014), issued in July 2014 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which takes into account the ICRP recommendations. The recommendations contained in these documents have a bearing on the application of the Convention, in view of the references to “knowledge available at the time” and “current knowledge” in Article 3(1) and Article 6(2) of the Convention. This general observation is organized in two parts. The first part (paragraphs 4–29) is a summary of the recommendations and norms of the IAEA and the ICRP. The second part, the conclusions (paragraphs 30–41), contains specific guidance with respect to the application of the Convention.

Reference to available knowledge – Articles 3(1) and 6(2) of the Convention

2. Under Article 3(1) of the Convention, “In the light of knowledge available at the time, all appropriate steps shall be taken to ensure effective protection of workers, as regards their health and safety, against ionising radiations.” Article 3(2) of the Convention states that “Rules and measures necessary for this purpose shall be adopted”, and Paragraph 3 of the Radiation Protection Recommendation, 1960 (No. 114), states that for the purpose of giving effect to Article 3(2), “every Member should have due regard to the recommendations made from time to time by the International Commission on Radiological Protection and standards adopted by other competent organisations”. In addition, among the protective steps that have to be taken under Article 3(1), Article 6(1) provides for the fixing, for various categories of workers, of “maximum permissible doses of ionising radiations which may be received from sources external to or internal to the body and maximum permissible amounts of radioactive substances which can be taken into the body”, and Article 6(2) specifies that “such maximum permissible doses and amounts shall be kept under constant review in the light of current knowledge”. In assessing compliance with these requirements, it has been the practice of the Committee to refer to the current knowledge as embodied in the recommendations of the ICRP and other international reference sources based on the same recommendations, such as the BSS (co-sponsored by a number of international organizations, including the ILO from 1982 onwards), as well as the ILO code of practice on radiation protection of workers (ionising radiations) approved by the Governing Body of the ILO at its 234th Session (November 1986).

Scope of the concept of occupational exposure

3. Article 2(1) of the Convention states that the Convention applies to all activities involving exposure of workers to ionizing radiations in the course of their work. Similarly, the BSS 2014 defines occupational exposure as exposure of workers incurred in the course of their work and the ILO code of practice on radiation protection of workers refers to the exposure of a worker received or committed during a period of work.

Part I – Overview of the recommendations and norms of the IAEA and the ICRP

System of protection of workers against ionizing radiations

General principles of the system of protection

4. The fundamental objective of the system of radiation protection (2) is to protect people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation. This objective must be achieved without unduly limiting the operation of facilities or the conduct of activities if the benefits that they yield outweigh the radiation risks to which they give rise. While emphasis had previously been put primarily on limitation of individual dose, this limitation is now seen as constituting only one of the safety principles of a system of radiological protection that is to apply to any exposure situation. The three general principles of radiation protection are justification of exposures, optimization of radiological protection and application of dose limits: (3)

(a) The justification of an action or activity. For any exposure situation, (4) the issue is whether the benefits to individuals and to society from introducing or continuing the action or activity outweigh the harm (including radiation detriment) resulting from the activity. If sufficient information is available, the detriment associated with a proposed action or activity should include that from potential exposures as well as from exposures certain to occur. The process of justification needs to consider new available scientific information about efficacy or consequences of actions or activities. If the action or activity could no longer be considered as producing sufficient benefit to offset the total detriment, measures should be envisaged including prohibition or withdrawal.

(b) The optimization of protection. The optimization of protection and safety is a process of ensuring that the likelihood and magnitude of exposure and the number of individuals exposed are as low as reasonably achievable, economic and societal factors being taken into account. In the optimization process, dose constraints (5) are used.

(c) Limitation of exposure. The exposure of individuals in any exposure situation is to be subject to individual dose and risk criteria. Dose or risk limits are a particular legal form of those criteria, individual-related and established in the implementation of the system of protection, to define exposures that are to be considered as unacceptable. In order to ensure compliance with dose limits, (6) other dose criteria, such as dose constraints or reference levels (7) could be used.

Application of maximum permissible limits (8) within the system of protection against ionizing radiations

5. The Committee recalls that over the last few decades, there have been significant changes in the understanding of radiation effects. These concern both the levels of the dose limits recommended and their purpose and functions within the system of protection recommended by the ICRP. Initially, their main function was perceived as the avoidance of directly observable, non-malignant effects; subsequently, the incidence of cancer and hereditary effects caused by radiation was also taken into account, and the annual limit for occupational exposure of the whole body was reduced several times in the light of new scientific findings.

6. The ICRP position is that at low radiation doses (below around 100 mSv in a year) the increase in the incidence of “stochastic” effects (9) may occur with a small probability and in proportion to the increase in radiation dose over the background dose. These stochastic effects include randomly occurring ones, such as cancer or genetic detriment. At the current stage of scientific knowledge, these stochastic effects cannot be completely avoided and no radiation dose threshold can be invoked for them. Thus, the setting of dose limits cannot be based on health considerations alone and need to involve economic and societal considerations. On the other side, health effects associated with higher doses are termed as “deterministic” effects (10) (or “tissue reactions”, where the severity of the effect is proportional to the dose above a given level). The deterministic effects can be avoided by restricting the doses below a certain level of dose to which individuals are exposed.

7. In planned exposure situations, exposure is not to exceed dose limits and for exposure below dose limits, protection is to be optimized. Further, it is recommended to involve all concerned parties in the optimization process.

8. Accordingly, compliance with the limits on individual doses is not the sole measure of satisfactory radiation protection, and it is emphasized that it is required to optimize protection, keeping all exposures as low as reasonably achievable, economic and societal factors being taken into account. This approach is reflected in Article 5 of the Convention, which states that: “Every effort shall be made to restrict the exposure of workers to ionising radiations to the lowest practicable level, and any unnecessary exposure shall be avoided by all parties concerned.”

Dose limits in occupational exposure

Limits on intake (11)

9. Under Article 6(1) of the Convention, maximum permissible doses which may be received from sources external to or internal to the body and maximum permissible amounts of radioactive substances which can be taken into the body shall be fixed for various categories of workers. The construct of the effective dose provides the mechanism to include the sum of exposures from external and internal sources, and it is to this quantity that the dose limits apply.

Previous recommendations on dose limits

10. The 1990 Recommendations of the ICRP (Publication 60, Appendix B) provided a detailed discussion of the biological effects of ionizing radiation. On the basis of the information contained in this publication, the ICRP concluded in 1990 that dose limits should be set in such a way and at such a level that the total effective dose (12) received in a full working life would be prevented from exceeding about 1 Sv received moderately uniformly, at an annual average of 20 mSv; the ICRP however stressed that the application of its system of radiological protection should be such that this figure would only rarely be approached. The ICRP recommended a limit on the effective dose of 20 mSv per year, averaged over five years (100 mSv in five years), with the further provision that the effective dose should not exceed 50 mSv in any single year. It was indicated that if the circumstance arises where a cumulative dose approaching 1 Sv is reached, then consideration needs to be given to the opportunities to reduce future exposures. The 1 Sv value is not a limit, and thus is not a demarcation at which an individual cannot work with radiation. This is true whether the cumulative dose is due to annual increments, or to the dose in an emergency exposure situation. The ICRP also recommended separate annual dose limits, expressed in equivalent dose, for the lens of the eye (150 mSv per year) and for the skin (500 mSv over any 1 cm2 per year) to prevent deterministic effects.

Current recommendations for dose limits

11. The dose limits in the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103) reflect significant continuity with the Recommendations of 1990, but were calculated on the basis of updated risk estimates. The ICRP, in its 2007 Recommendations (Publication 103), reaffirms the dose limits recommended previously in Publication 60. These limits are 20 mSv per year averaged over defined five-year periods, with a maximum of 50 mSv effective dose in any one year. Separate values of equivalent dose for skin and the hands and feet are specified at 500 mSv per year. In ICRP Publication 118, Part 1 (2012), the ICRP provides a statement on tissue reactions, and modifies the recommendation for limitation of dose to the lens of the eye, with the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye being 20 mSv per year, averaged over defined periods of five years, with no single year exceeding 50 mSv per year. This supersedes the limit contained in both the ICRP Recommendations of 1990 and of 2007, and reflects the only change with respect to the limitation of dose between the 1990 Recommendations and current recommendations. These dose limits recommended by the ICRP and endorsed by the BSS 2014 serve governments and the regulatory bodies in their establishment of the control for occupational exposure. (13)

Protection for pregnant and breastfeeding workers

12. In the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103), the ICRP states a policy 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 (as indicated in paragraph 14 below, the annual effective dose limit for members of the public is 1 mSv). In this regard, once an employer has been notified of a pregnancy, additional controls have to be considered in order to attain this level of protection. According to the BSS 2014, the working conditions of a pregnant worker, after declaration of pregnancy, should be such as to ensure that the embryo or foetus is afforded the same broad level of protection as is required for members of the public. In order to ensure the same level of protection for breastfed infants, the same principle applies to breastfeeding workers.

Dose limits for persons between 16 and 18 years of age

13. Article 7(1) of the Convention provides that appropriate levels shall be fixed for workers who are directly engaged in radiation work and are under the age of 18, while Article 7(2) provides that no worker under the age of 16 shall be engaged in work involving ionizing radiations. These principles are reflected in the BSS 2014. For occupational exposure of apprentices between the ages of 16 to 18 years who are being trained for employment involving radiation and for exposure of students of between the ages 16 to 18 who use sources in the course of their studies, the specific dose limits are set lower than the dose for occupational exposure of workers above 18 years of age. Schedule 3 of the BSS 2014 provides that, for occupational exposure of apprentices between 16 and 18 years of age who are being trained for employment involving radiation and for exposure of students aged between 16 to 18 who use sources in the course of their studies, the dose limits are: (a) an effective dose of 6 mSv in a year; (b) an equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 20 mSv in a year; and (c) an equivalent dose to the extremities (hands and feet) or to the skin of 150 mSv in a year. In this regard it may be recalled that, with reference to Articles 1, 3(d) and 4 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), in so far as work involving occupational exposure to ionizing radiation has been determined by national laws or regulations or by the competent authority to be a type of work which is likely to harm the health or safety of children by member States that have ratified that Convention, persons under 18 must not be engaged in such work.

Dose limits for workers not directly engaged in radiation work

14. Under Article 8 of the Convention, “appropriate levels shall be fixed in accordance with Article 6 for workers who are not directly engaged in radiation work, but who remain or pass where they may be exposed to ionising radiation or radioactive substances”. The BSS 2014 requires employers, registrants and licensees (14) 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 annual effective dose limit for these persons remains at 1 mSv under the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103). As set out in those Recommendations, (15) in special circumstances, a higher value of effective dose could be allowed in a single year, provided that the average over five years does not exceed 1 mSv per year. To prevent deterministic effects, separate annual dose equivalent limits are fixed for the lens of the eye at 15 mSv in a year and for the skin at 50 mSv in a year. Optimization of protection should be applied to the exposure of individuals who are not directly engaged in radiation work, as it is for workers directly engaged in radiation work. Appropriate constraints for the optimization of protection of workers who are not directly engaged in radiation work should be below 1 mSv.

General principles in emergency situations

15. The Committee recalls that the Convention, pursuant to Article 2, applies to all activities involving exposure of workers to ionizing radiations, including emergency workers. (16) As indicated by the Committee in its 1992 observation, exceptional exposure of workers is neither justified for the purpose of rescuing items of high material value, nor, more generally, because alternative techniques of intervention, which do not involve such exposure of workers, would involve an excessive expense. It is therefore essential that activities that have associated significant potential exposures be examined and addressed in the authorization process, and that the appropriate resources are identified and emergency plans put in place to minimize or eliminate the exposure of workers.

16. According to paragraph 4.7 of the BSS 2014, it is essential that emergency preparedness and response planning be undertaken in advance based on the optimization of a protection strategy, which may be composed of several specific actions based on the circumstances.

Limitation of occupational exposure during an emergency and the recovery period

During an emergency

17. During an emergency, each particular protective action (elaborated in emergency preparedness and response planning) might be implemented separately, and optimization of the entire strategy needs to consider all pathways of exposure, in order to ensure that the residual dose (17) is reduced to as low as reasonably achievable. The optimized protection strategy is to be implemented when generic criteria, for use in protection strategies that are compatible with reference levels, are exceeded, to provide for rapid action. Such actions are often needed in the absence of detailed radiological information that is usually associated with planned exposure situations in which the source is under control. In emergency situations, reference levels should be selected to be within, or if possible below, the 20–100 mSv band (18) recommended in the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103).

18. Occupational exposures in emergency and existing exposure situations are to be subject to the available operational and procedural arrangements, including assessment, monitoring, engagement and training. Individual exposure should be optimized, with appropriate boundaries of reference levels. Depending upon the prevailing circumstances, these reference levels may be greater than the recommended values of dose limits that are applicable to planned exposure situations. In emergency or existing exposure situations, the reference levels represent the level of dose or risk, above which it is judged to be inappropriate to plan to allow exposures to occur, and for which therefore protective actions should be planned and optimized. The initial intention would be to not exceed, or to remain at, these levels.

19. The higher levels of exposure in an emergency may be necessary and appropriate over a short period of time, given the prevailing circumstances, and subject to optimization of protection. Such levels would not be expected to continue for extended periods because reductions in exposures can be realized as additional information becomes available, and some measure of control over the source and the exposure situation is achieved. The relevant recommendations of the ICRP are set to prevent tissue reactions and the ambition is to reduce all doses to levels that are as low as reasonably achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account.

20. In exceptional situations, informed emergency workers may volunteer to take actions where there is a probability of receiving doses that might exceed 50 mSv (the occupational dose limit for workers in a single year). The only situations in which this is applicable are listed in paragraph 21 below.

21. According to paragraph 4.17 of the BSS 2014, response organizations (19) and employers should ensure that no emergency worker is subject to an exposure in an emergency in excess of 50 mSv other than: (a) for the purposes of saving life or preventing serious injury; (b) when undertaking actions to prevent severe deterministic effects and actions to prevent the development of catastrophic conditions that could significantly affect people and the environment; or (c) when undertaking actions to avert a large collective dose.

22. Response organizations and employers should ensure that emergency workers who undertake actions in which the doses received might exceed 50 mSv do so voluntarily; that they have been clearly and comprehensively informed in advance of the associated health risks, as well as of available measures for protection and safety; and that they are, to the extent possible, trained in the actions that they may be required to take.

23. In the exceptional circumstances specified in paragraph 21 above, response organizations and employers should make all reasonable efforts to keep doses to emergency workers below the guidance values set out in Schedule IV of the BSS 2014. (20) In addition, emergency workers undertaking actions as a result of which their doses could approach or exceed the values set out in Schedule IV should do so only when the expected benefits to others would clearly outweigh the risks to the emergency workers. (21)

During the recovery period

24. The ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103) states that workers undertaking recovery and restoration operations in a later phase of emergency exposure situations should be considered as occupationally exposed workers and should be protected according to normal occupational radiological protection standards, and their exposures should not exceed the occupational dose limits recommended by the ICRP. Workers undertaking work such as repairs to plant and buildings or activities for radioactive waste management, or undertaking remedial actions for the decontamination of the site and surrounding areas, should be subject to the relevant requirements for occupational exposure in planned exposure situations as outlined in section 3 of the BSS 2014. (22)

Monitoring of the workplace

25. Article 11 of the Convention states that appropriate monitoring of workers and places of work shall be carried out in order to measure the exposure of workers to ionizing radiations and radioactive substances, with a view to ascertaining that the applicable levels are respected. In this connection, paragraph 3.37 of the BSS 2014 provides that the regulatory body should establish requirements that monitoring and measurements be performed to verify compliance with the requirements for protection and safety. The regulatory body should be responsible for review and approval of the monitoring and measurement programmes of registrants and licensees. In addition, paragraph 3.96 of the BSS 2014 provides that registrants and licensees, in cooperation with employers where appropriate, should establish, maintain and keep under review a programme for workplace monitoring under the supervision of a radiation protection officer or qualified expert. According to paragraph 3.97, the type and frequency of workplace monitoring should be sufficient to enable: (i) evaluation of the radiological conditions in all workplaces; (ii) assessment of exposures in controlled areas and supervised areas; and (iii) review of the classification of controlled areas and supervised areas. This monitoring should be based on dose rate, activity concentration in air and surface contamination, and their expected fluctuations, and on the likelihood and magnitude of exposures in anticipated operational occurrences and accident conditions.

Workers’ health surveillance

26. Article 12 of the Convention states that: “All workers directly engaged in radiation work shall undergo an appropriate medical examination prior to or shortly after taking up such work and subsequently undergo further medical examinations at appropriate intervals.” Article 13 provides that circumstances shall be specified, in which, because of the nature or degree of the exposure or a combination of both, the following action shall be taken promptly: (a) the worker shall undergo an appropriate medical examination; (b) the employer shall notify the competent authority in accordance with its requirements; (c) persons competent in radiation protection shall examine the conditions in which the worker’s duties are performed; and (d) the employer shall take any necessary remedial action on the basis of the technical findings and the medical advice. In this regard, paragraph 3.76(f) of the BSS 2014 provides that employers, registrants and licensees should ensure, for all workers engaged in activities in which they are or could be subject to occupational exposure, that necessary workers’ health surveillance and health services for workers are provided. According to paragraph 3.108 of the BSS 2014, these programmes for workers’ health surveillance should be based on the general principles of occupational health and should be designed to assess the initial fitness and continuing fitness of workers for their intended task.

Discontinuation of assignment to work involving exposure to ionizing radiation pursuant to medical advice and alternative employment

27. Article 14 of the Convention provides that: “No worker shall be employed or shall continue to be employed in work by reason of which the worker could be subject to exposure to ionizing radiations contrary to qualified medical advice.” The key here is the provision of qualified medical advice, upon which a decision should be taken.

28. Paragraph 27 of Recommendation No. 114 provides that, if as the result of such medical advice as is envisaged in Article 14 of the Convention, it is inadvisable to subject a worker to further exposure to ionizing radiations in that worker’s employment, every reasonable effort should be made to provide such a worker with suitable alternative employment. In this respect, paragraph 3.112 of the BSS 2014 provides that employers should make all reasonable efforts to provide workers with suitable alternative employment in circumstances for which it has been determined, either by the regulatory body or in the framework of the programme for workers’ health surveillance in accordance with the requirements of the BSS 2014, that workers, for health reasons, may no longer continue in employment in which they are or could be subject to occupational exposure. In addition, it may be noted that some of the more recent occupational safety and health instruments (the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148) and the Asbestos Convention, 1986 (No. 162)) indicate that where continued assignment to activities covered by those instruments is found to be medically inadvisable, every effort shall be made, consistent with national practice and conditions, to provide the worker concerned with other means of maintaining their income.

Records of individual doses

29. Paragraph 26 of Recommendation No. 114 provides that, so far as is practicable, a complete record of all doses received in the course of work by every worker should be kept so that the cumulative dose may be taken into account for employment purposes. Paragraph 3.83(d) of the BSS 2014 outlines that workers should provide to the employer, registrant or licensee such information on their past and present work that is relevant for ensuring effective and comprehensive protection and safety for themselves and others.

Part II – Conclusions

30. Recalling that, pursuant to Article 3(1) of the Convention, all appropriate steps shall be taken to ensure effective protection of workers, as regards their health and safety, against ionizing radiations, in the light of knowledge available at the time, and, pursuant to Article 6(2), maximum permissible doses and amounts shall be kept under constant review in the light of the current knowledge, the Committee invites governments to review their system of protection of workers against ionizing radiations in the light of the findings set out in the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103) and the BSS 2014 that are summarized in paragraphs 2–29 above. In particular, the Committee trusts that laws, regulations, directives, codes of practice and other instruments in this field will be re-examined with a view to ensuring, in law and in practice, the effective protection of workers, as regards their health and safety. The Committee requests governments to indicate, in future reports, the steps that may have been taken or that are under consideration in relation to the following matters.

System of radiation protection (paragraphs 4–8)

31. In giving effect to Article 3 of the Convention, the Committee considers that governments should ensure the establishment and maintenance of a system of radiation protection, in light of the safety principles, and, in particular, the three general principles of radiation protection: justification of exposures, optimization of radiological protection and application of dose limits.

Current recommendations for dose limits (paragraphs 9 and 11)

32. When fixing maximum permissible doses of ionizing radiations in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, the Committee considers that governments should note that the dose limits recommended for occupational exposure are:

- 20 mSv per year averaged over defined five-year periods, with a maximum of 50 mSv effective dose in any one year;

- equivalent dose for skin and the hands and feet of 500 mSv per year;

- 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.

Protection for pregnant and breastfeeding workers (paragraph 12)

33. The Committee considers 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 (the annual effective dose limit for members of the public is 1 mSv). In order to ensure the same level of protection for breastfed infants, the same principle applies to breastfeeding workers.

Dose limits for persons between 16 and 18 years (paragraph 13)

34. In giving effect to Article 7(1)(b) of the Convention, for occupational exposure of apprentices aged 16 to 18 years of age who are being trained for employment involving radiation and for exposure of students aged 16 to 18 who use sources in the course of their studies, the dose limits are: (a) an effective dose of 6 mSv in a year; (b) an equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 20 mSv in a year; and (c) an equivalent dose to the extremities (hands and feet) or to the skin of 150 mSv in a year. The Committee recalls that, pursuant to Article 7(2) of the Convention, no worker under the age of 16 shall be engaged in work involving ionizing radiations. The Committee also recalls that, with reference to Articles 1, 3(d) and 4 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), in so far as work involving occupational exposure to ionizing radiation has been determined by national laws or regulations or by the competent authority to be a type of hazardous work by member States that have ratified that Convention, persons under 18 must not be engaged in such work.

Dose limits for workers not directly engaged in radiation work (paragraph 14)

35. In giving effect to Article 8 of the Convention, the Committee considers that the dose limits for workers not directly engaged in radiation work are those to be applied to members of the public, particularly an annual effective dose limit of 1 mSv. A higher value of effective dose can be allowed in a single year, provided that the average over five years does not exceed 1 mSv per year. To prevent deterministic effects, separate annual dose equivalent limits are to be set for the lens of the eye at 15 mSv in a year and for the skin at 50 mSv in year. Optimization of protection should be applied to the exposure of individuals who are not directly engaged in radiation work.

Limitation of occupational exposure during an emergency (paragraphs 15–24)

36. The Committee considers that it is essential that activities that have associated significant potential exposures be examined and addressed in the authorization process, and that the appropriate resources are identified and emergency preparedness and response plans put in place to minimize or eliminate the exposure of workers. Planning to be undertaken in advance of an emergency should be based on the optimization of a protection strategy, which should be implemented when generic criteria, for use in protection strategies that are compatible with reference levels, are exceeded, to provide for rapid action. Such actions are often needed in the absence of detailed radiological information that is usually associated with planned exposure situations in which the source is under control. Occupational exposures in emergency situations should be subject to the available operational and procedural arrangements, including assessment, monitoring, engagement and training. Individual exposure should be optimized, with appropriate boundaries of reference levels.

37. In emergency situations, reference levels should be selected to be within, or if possible below, the 20–100 mSv band. Measures are to be taken to ensure that no emergency worker is subject to an exposure in an emergency in excess of 50 mSv. In exceptional situations, informed emergency workers may volunteer to receive a higher dose only: (a) for the purposes of saving life or preventing serious injury; (b) when undertaking actions to prevent severe deterministic effects and actions to prevent the development of catastrophic conditions that could significantly affect people and the environment; or (c) when undertaking actions to avert a large collective dose. In these exceptional circumstances, available measures for protection and safety and all reasonable efforts should be made to keep doses to such workers below the guidance values set out in the BSS 2014.

Monitoring of the workplace (paragraph 25)

38. In giving effect to Article 11 of the Convention, the Committee considers that governments should establish requirements to ensure that monitoring and measurements are performed to verify compliance with provisions related to protection and safety.

Workers’ health surveillance (paragraph 26)

39. In giving effect to Articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, the Committee considers that measures should be taken to ensure that the necessary workers’ health surveillance and health services are provided. Such programmes for workers’ health surveillance should be based on the general principles of occupational health and should be designed to assess the initial fitness and continuing fitness of workers for their intended task.

Discontinuation of assignment to work involving exposure to ionizing radiation pursuant to medical advice and alternative employment (paragraphs 27 and 28)

40. In giving effect to Article 14 of the Convention, in light of the guidance in Paragraph 27 of Recommendation No. 114, the Committee considers that employers should make all reasonable efforts to provide workers with suitable alternative employment in circumstances for which it has been determined, pursuant to medical advice, that the workers, for health reasons, may no longer continue in employment in which they are, or could be, subject to occupational exposure.

Records of individual doses (paragraph 29)

41. With a view to ensuring effective and comprehensive protection of workers, the Committee considers that, as far as is practicable, a complete record of all doses received in the course of work by every worker should be kept so that the cumulative dose may be taken into account for employment purposes, as provided by Paragraph 26 of Recommendation No. 114. In this respect, efforts should be made to avoid a situation in which a worker may believe they must suppress dosimetric information or other actions, in order to maintain their work status.

End Note

1. 1 - The BSS were jointly sponsored by the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Labour Organization, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, the Pan American Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization.The BSS were jointly sponsored by the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Labour Organization, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, the Pan American Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization.
2. 2 - According to the BSS 2014, a radiation protection system is based on ten safety principles: responsibility for safety; role of government; justification of exposures; optimization of protection; limitation of doses; protection of present and future generations; prevention of accidents; emergency preparedness; emergency response; and protective actions to reduce radiation risk.
3. 3 - Section 5.6 of the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103), and page 4 of the BSS 2014.
4. 4 - In the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103), the ICRP define three exposure situations: existing, planned, and emergency. In any of these situations, protection is to be optimized, with boundaries (or restrictions) on the individual exposures in the form of constraints or reference levels to ensure appropriate levels of protection under the prevailing circumstances.
5. 5 - Dose constraint is a prospective and source-related value of individual dose that is used in planned exposure situations as a parameter for the optimization of protection and safety for the source, and that serves as a boundary in defining the range of options in optimization.
6. 6 - Dose limit is the value of the effective dose or the equivalent dose to individuals in planned exposure situations that is not to be exceeded.
7. 7 - Reference level is the level of dose, risk or activity concentration above which it is not appropriate to plan to allow exposures to occur and below which optimization of protection and safety would continue to be implemented. It is used for an emergency exposure situation or an existing exposure situation.
8. 8 - In the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103) and the BSS 2014, the concept of maximum permissible limits is expressed in the terms dose limit and reference level.
9. 9 - Stochastic effect refers to a radiation-induced health effect, the probability of occurrence of which is greater for a higher radiation dose and the severity of which (if it occurs) is independent of dose (page 424 of the BSS 2014).
10. 10 - Deterministic effect refers to a radiation-induced health effect for which generally a threshold level of dose exists above which the severity of the effect is greater for a higher dose (page 387 of the BSS 2014).
11. 11 - Intake refers to the act or process of taking radionuclides into the body by inhalation or ingestion or through the skin.
12. 12 - Effective dose is defined as a summation of the tissue or organ equivalent doses, each multiplied by the appropriate tissue weighting factor. Effective dose is used in describing radiation effects on tissues and organs.
13. 13 - Requirement 12 of the BSS 2014, page 37.
14. 14 - Registrant refers to the holder of a current registration, which is a form of authorization for practices of low or moderate risks whereby the person or organization responsible for the practice has, as appropriate, prepared and submitted a safety assessment of the facilities and equipment body. The practice or use is authorized with conditions or limitations as appropriate. Licensee refers to the holder of a current license, specifically a legal document granting authorization to perform specified activities relating to a facility or activities.
15. 15 - Table 6, footnote f, of the ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103).
16. 16 - An emergency worker is a person having specified duties as a worker in response to an emergency (page 391 of the BSS 2014).
17. 17 - Residual dose refers to the dose expected to be incurred after protective actions have been terminated (or after a decision has been taken not to take protective actions).
18. 18 - The ICRP Recommendations of 2007 (Publication 103) gives three bands for use in selecting reference levels: (1) The dose constraint or reference level of up to about 1 mSv, in the case when individuals are exposed to radiation from a source that yields little or no benefit for them, but which may benefit society in general. (2) Reference levels of 20–100 mSv would be used where individuals are exposed to radiation from sources that are not under control or where actions to reduce doses would be disproportionately disruptive. (3) Dose of greater than 100 mSv being incurred within a short period of time or in one year would be considered unacceptable, except under the circumstances relating to exposure of emergency workers that are addressed specifically.
19. 19 - A response organization is an organization designated or otherwise recognized by a State as being responsible for managing or implementing any aspect of an emergency response.
20. 20 - Table IV.2 of Schedule IV of the BSS 2014 (page 373).
21. 21 - Table IV.2 of Schedule IV of the BSS 2014 (page 373).
22. 22 - Section 3 on Planned Exposure Situations of the BSS 2014 (pp. 29–86).