Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 1962)

I. Article 3, paragraph 1 and Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention. With reference to its General Observation under this Convention, the Committee notes with interest the indication given in the Government's report for the period ending 30 June 1990 that the current dose limits set out in the Ionising Radiations Regulations of 1985 will be amended when the new recommendations made by the International Commission on Radiological Protection have been incorporated into a revised Euratom Directive. The Committee hopes that the necessary action will soon be taken, in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 1 and Article 6, paragraph 2 of the Convention, to bring national legislation concerning the protection of workers against ionising radiations, including limits of maximum permissible exposure to ionising radiations into conformity with current knowledge as embodied in the 1990 recommendations of the ICRP, and that the Government will indicate in its next report the progress made in this regard.

II. In its previous direct requests, the Committee had drawn the Government's attention to the fact that no regulatory or legislative provision existed to prohibit persons under 16 years of age from being engaged in work where they would be exposed to ionising radiations, as required by Article 7, paragraph 2. The Government has again stated that, although no specific measures have been taken in this regard, children under 16 years of age cannot be employed in industrial undertakings involving ionising radiations. The Committee notes the Government's indication that an express prohibition of the employment of persons under 16 years of age in work involving ionising radiations will be incorporated into the Ionising Radiations Regulations when they are revised to take into account the new ICRP recommendations. The Committee trusts that the necessary measures will be taken in the near future in order to bring legislation into conformity with this Article of the Convention and requests the Government to supply information in its next report on the progress made in this regard.

III. As concerns its General Observation of 1987 concerning special measures and dose limits fixed for intervention in abnormal situations, the Committee notes with interest from Annex I to the Report of the Working Group on Ionising Radiations for 1987-88 entitled "Report on Emergency Dose Limitation in Radiation Accidents" that worker emergency dose levels of up to 100 mSv and, for life-saving actions by volunteers, a maximum of 0.5 Gy (approximately 500 mSv) are prescribed in emergency plans at nuclear installations.

The Committee also notes the indication in the Working Group's Report that there are no special dose limits set for accident or emergency situations in the Ionising Radiation Regulations; the annual limit of 50 mSv for workers remains the standard. Paragraph 13 of Annex I states that "plans may need to include a more careful form of words defining the circumstances in which such worker emergency dose levels could be allowed". In this regard, the Committee would draw the Government's attention to paragraphs 16 to 27 of its General Observation under this Convention concerning the limitation of occupational exposure during and after an emergency. The Government is requested to indicate, in its next report, the steps taken in relation to the matters raised in the conclusions to the General Observation, in particular, as concerns paragraph 35(c).