Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Lebanon (Ratification: 1977)

Articles 6(1), 7(1)–(2) and 8 of the Convention. Permissible doses for various categories of workers. With reference to its previous comment, the Committee notes the information that Decree No. 700 of 1999 has not yet been revised and that discussions are still ongoing in order to ensure greater conformity between its provisions and ratified labour Conventions, including this Convention. The Committee reiterates its requests to the Government to provide information with its next report on whether Decree No. 700 of 1999 has been revised; whether limits have been set for workers under the age of 18 years involved in ionizing radiation work; whether there is a general prohibition to engage workers under the age of 16 in such work; and to provide information on measures taken to develop rules applicable to pregnant women in accordance with the 1990 Recommendation of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), to which the Committee refers in its 1992 general observation under the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to provide copies of any applicable legislation.

Article 9(2). Training and information. The Committee notes the information that the Government set up a committee on 30 June 2009 for the consideration of, inter alia, international labour Conventions with the mandate to, inter alia, take measures to ensure compliance with the present provision, namely the “training and information of workers exposed to ionozing radiation.” The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information regarding the issuance of rules ensuring the full application of Article 9(2) of the Convention and to transmit copies of relevant legislation, once it has been adopted.

Article 13(d). Required remedial action based on technical findings and medical advice. The Committee notes the indication that the Government does not dispose of information with respect to provisions requiring employers to take remedial action based on technical findings and medical advice. The Committee urges the Government to take relevant measures, in law and in practice, to ensure compliance with this provision of the Convention.

Article 14. Alternative employment or other measures offered for maintaining income where continued assignment to work involving exposure is medically inadvisable. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information that neither the Social Security Act nor other related regulations have ever addressed workers’ income insurance or maintenance. The Committee also notes that, according to the 2009 report of the Prevention and Safety Inspectorate, enterprises whose activities involve exposure to ionizing radiation work are limited to health-care establishments, which keep records on the extent and amount of exposure to ionizing radiation work and that, should the amount of exposure exceed the prescribed level, the workers concerned should be transferred to another radiation-free job. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on whether the provision of alternative employment as indicated is legally regulated and whether other measures are  offered for workers to maintain their income where their continued assignment to work involving exposure is medically inadvisable. It also requests the Government to provide information regarding the practical application of the provision of alternative employment to workers where continued assignment to work involving exposure to ionizing radiations is found to be medically inadvisable.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. Article 15. Labour inspection. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that it does not dispose of information regarding the application of the Convention in practice. The Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to the obligation in Article 15 which requires the Government to provide appropriate inspection for the purposes of supervising the application of its provisions, or to satisfy itself that appropriate inspection is carried out. It therefore reiterates its request to the Government to give a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country, including, for example, extracts from inspection reports and, if available, information on the number of workers covered by the legislation, if possible disaggregated by gender, the number and nature of contraventions reported, the number and cause of accidents recorded, and the measures taken to remedy them, and the individual protective equipment allocated to workers, such as dosimeters.