Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2006, Publicación: 96ª reunión CIT (2007)

Convenio sobre la protección contra las radiaciones, 1960 (núm. 115) - Eslovaquia (Ratificación : 1993)

1. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report, including reference to relevant provisions in the Labour Code and Decree No. 12/2001 of the Ministry of Health concerning radiation protection requirements.

2. Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention. Permitted dose limits. Pregnant workers. The Committee notes that with respect to dose limits for exposure to radiation for pregnant women, section 5 of Decree No. 12/2001, provides that “the effective dose limit from the interior exposure of the foetus shall not exceed 1 mSv counting from the day in which the pregnant woman informs the employer of her pregnancy to the end of the pregnancy”. The Committee notes with interest that this limit is half of the limit of 2 mSv recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) referred to in the 1992 general observation under the Convention (paragraph 13). The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the application in practice of this provision. 

3. Article 7, paragraph 1(b). Exposure limits for young persons between 16 and 18 years of age. The Committee notes that the dose limits recommended by the ICRP as regards young workers are intended to protect apprentices who are training for employment involving exposure to radiation and for students aged 16 to 18 who are required to use sources in the course of their studies. However, the Committee notes that the scope of section 7 of Decree No. 12/2001 “Limits of radiation exposure for school children and students” is not limited to these categories of persons. Furthermore, while an effective dose limit of 6 mSv in a year corresponds to the limits recommended by the ICRP for this category of persons, section 7 of Decree No. 12/2001 provides for an equivalent dose limit of 150 mSv per year for the eye which is three times more than the limit recommended by the ICRP and an equivalent dose to the extremities of the skin of 500 mSv in a year which is more than three times the limit of 150 mSv recommended by the ICRP. The Committee requests the Government to indicate measures taken or envisaged in order to ensure a full application of the Convention in these respects.

4. Article 7, paragraph 2. Prohibition against employing young persons under 16 in work involving exposure to radiation. With reference to subparagraph 2 of section 7 of Decree No. 12/2001, which is slightly ambiguous on this point, the Committee requests the Government to clarify whether it is clearly prohibited, in law as well as in practice, to engage young persons under the age of 16 in work which involves exposure to radiation.

5. Exceptional exposure of workers in emergency situations. The Committee notes that subparagraphs 2 and 3, section 8, of Decree No. 12/2001 set certain exceptionally permitted increased dose limits applicable in emergency situations and that subparagraph 4 of the same section provides that the limits set in these aforementioned subparagraphs 2 and 3 “shall not apply to cases where human life is rescued or the development of a radiation accident with possibly serious social and economic consequences is prevented”. In this regard, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to item 35(c)(iii) of the conclusions of the Committee’s 1992 general observation under this Convention call for a strict definition of circumstances in which exceptional exposure of workers, exceeding the normally tolerated dose limit, is to be allowed for immediate and urgent remedial work; that work must be strictly limited in scope and duration to what is required to meet an acute danger to life and health; 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 excessive expenses. In light of the foregoing, the Committee requests the Government to indicate measures taken or envisaged in order to ensure a full application of the Convention in these respects.

6. Article 12. Medical examinations. The Committee notes that current legislation which gives effect to this provision is Act No. 277/1994 on health care (as amended), and that the Government indicates that an executive decree to this Act is under preparation. The Committee hopes that such a decree will soon be adopted and asks the Government to provide a copy of the text once it is adopted.

7.  Article 14. Alternative employment or other measures offered for maintaining income where continued assignment to work involving exposure is medically inadvisable. The Committee notes that section 55, paragraph 2, of the Labour Code includes an obligation for the employer to transfer an employee to other work if, according to medical opinion, the employee should not perform its work due to occupational disease or the threat of such disease. Against this background, the Committee wishes to draw the attention of the Government to paragraph 32 of the 1992 general observation under the Convention where it is indicated that every effort must be made to provide the workers concerned with suitable alternative employment, or to maintain their income through social security measures or otherwise where continued assignment to work involving exposure to ionizing radiations is found to be medically inadvisable. The Committee requests the Government to provide, with its next report, the information concerning the practical application of section 55, paragraph 2, of the Labour Code and the efforts made to provide workers concerned with suitable alternative employment or to offer them other means to maintain their income.