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

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Ukraine (Ratification: 1968)

1. (a) The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government in reply to its General Observation of 1987. It would refer the Government to paragraphs 16 to 27 of its present General Observation under this Convention and requests the Government to reply to the questions raised in paragraph 35(c), particularly as concerns the measures taken in abnormal situations and to indicate the measures taken for the protection against ionising radiations for the 6,000 workers involved in the Chernobyl clean-up action and the 4,500 power-plant workers. The Government is also requested to indicate whether any measures have been taken or are envisaged to close the three nuclear power generators still operating at the Chernobyl plant.

(b) The Committee notes from the Government's report that workers exposed to ionising radiations are regularly provided with medical examinations and that there is a list of 34 medical contra-indications for work involving such exposure. The Government is referred to paragraphs 28 to 34 of the Committee's General Observation and requested to indicate whether alternative employment is provided to workers for whom continued exposure to ionising radiations is medically inadvisable, and particularly for those workers involved in the clean-up who have been exposed to excessive levels of radiation.

2. Article 8 of the Convention. The Committee notes from the Government's report that the maximum radiation dose for workers not directly employed in work involving exposure to ionising radiations is set at 0.5 rem per year or 5 mSv. The Committee would recall that, according to section 5.4.5 of the ILO Code of Practice on the Radiation Protection of Workers (Ionising Radiations) of 1986, the employer has the same obligations towards workers not directly engaged in radiation work, as far as restricting their radiation exposure is concerned, as if they were members of the public. The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends an annual effective dose equivalent limit for the general public of 1 mSv averaged over any five consecutive years. The Government is requested to indicate whether any measures have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that workers not directly engaged in radiation work are not exposed to levels of radiation any higher than those recommended for the general public.

3. The Committee would recall that, under Article 3, paragraph 1, and Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention, all appropriate steps shall be taken to ensure effective protection of workers against ionising radiations and to review maximum permissible doses of ionising radiations in the light of current knowledge. In its General Observation under this Convention the Committee has set out, inter alia, the revised exposure limits established on the basis of new physiological findings by the International Commission on Radiological Protection in its 1990 Recommendations (Publication No. 60). The Government is requested to indicate the steps taken or being considered in relation to the matters raised in the conclusions to the General Observation.