Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

1. Article 3, paragraph 1, and Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government indicates, in its 1995 report, that the technical subcommittee of the Board has resolved to issue an approved Code of Practice, under the Health and Safety at Work (General) (Guernsey) Ordinance, 1987. Noting also that the current annual dose limits applicable are set at 50 mSv per year for workers aged 18 or over, and 15 mSv for workers under the age of 18, the Committee hopes that the Government will be soon in a position to indicate the adoption of new limits, in accordance with the recommendations issued in 1990 by the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the International Basic Safety Standards jointly sponsored in 1994 by the IAEA, WHO, ILO, and three other international organizations which are based on the ICRP recommendations.

2. Article 7, paragraph 2. The Committee notes from the Government's report that there are no provisions which expressly prohibit the employment of workers under the age of 16 in work involving radiation. It requests the Government to supply information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure that effect is given to this provision of the Convention.

3. Article 8. The Committee would like to draw the Government's attention to paragraph 14 of its 1992 general observation which concerns dose limits for workers who are not directly engaged in radiation work, but who remain or pass where they may be exposed to ionizing radiation or radioactive substances. The dose limit for these non-radiation workers should be the same as applied to individual members of the public, which is established by the 1990 ICRP recommendations at 1 mSv per year, averaged over five consecutive years. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on dose limits applicable to these non-radiation workers.

4. Article 12. The Committee notes the Government's indication that there is no statutory requirement for medical examinations at the present time. Recalling that, under this Article of the Convention, all workers directly engaged in radiation work shall undergo an appropriate medical examination prior to or shortly after taking up such work and subsequently undergo further medical examinations at appropriate intervals, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the manner in which this Article of the Convention is applied.