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Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Ecuador (RATIFICATION: 1970)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report in reply to its previous direct request on Article 14 of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide further information on the following points.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes from the Government's report that consultations with representatives of employers' and workers' organisations do not appear to have been held during the drafting and adoption of Decrees Nos. 3306 of 8 March 1979 and 3640 of 19 July 1979. The Committee recalls that this Article of the Convention requires consultation in the application of the provisions of the Convention and therefore hopes that in the future all measures in this regard will be taken in consultation with representatives of employers and workers in accordance with the Convention.

Article 7, paragraphs 1(b) and 2. The Committee notes that section 3 of the Regulations on Radiation Safety, No. 3640 of 1979, prohibits the work of persons under 18 years of age in "radiation areas". A "radiation area" is defined in the Regulations as a restricted area where the exposure level to radiation doses may be greater than 5 m rem/h.

In regard to Article 7, paragraph 1(b) of the Convention, the Committee recalls that maximum permissible dose levels are to be fixed in light of current knowledge for workers under the age of 18 years and that according to the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection and the ILO Code of Practice for the Radiation Protection of Workers (Ionising Radiations), persons between 16 and 18 years of age should only work in areas where it is most unlikely that the exposure level would exceed three-tenths (1.5 rems) of the dose limit. Therefore, even though workers under 18 years are prohibited from radiation areas it appears they may still be exposed to radiation doses greater than three-tenths of the dose limit during the course of their work, as no other provision exists which fixes an appropriate maximum permissible dose level for this category of workers.

In regard to Article 7, paragraph 2 of the Convention, the prohibition to work in radiation areas set out in section 3 of the Regulations would also be insufficient to apply this provision of the Convention because as described above it does not prohibit persons under the age of 16 years from engaging in work involving any exposure to ionising radiations as required by the Convention. The Committee notes the Government's statement that section 139 of the 1978 Labour Code also applies this provision of the Convention as it prohibits the employment of minors in certain dangerous and unhealthy activities and as work involving ionising radiations would be considered a dangerous and unhealthy activity pursuant to the prohibition prescribed in section 3 of the said Regulations on Radiation Safety. As indicated above, section 3 of the said Regulations does not give full effect to this provision of the Convention, therefore work involving ionising radiations would need to be expressly included in the list of dangerous and unhealthy activities for section 139 of the Labour Code to fully apply the Convention.

The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to fix maximum permissible exposure levels in accordance with Article 7, paragraph 1(b) of the Convention, and to prohibit workers under the age of 16 from work involving any exposure to ionising radiations in accordance with Article 7, paragraph 2 and that the Government will indicate the progress made in this regard in its next report.