Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Latvia (Ratification: 1993)

Other comments on C115

Observation

Direct Request

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General observation of 2015. The Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to its general observation of 2015 under this Convention, and in particular to the request for information contained in paragraph 30 thereof.

Article 14 of the Convention. Discontinuation of assignment to work involving exposure to ionizing radiation pursuant to medical advice and alternative employment. The Committee previously noted that pursuant to paragraph 58 of the Cabinet Regulation No. 219 on procedures for performance of mandatory health examinations, if a health examination shows that a worker is not suited for the work to be performed, an employer shall provide the worker with working conditions without the specific factor of the work environment that is harmful to their health.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that, with respect to compliance with the obligation to provide working conditions without the specific factor of the work environment that is harmful to the worker’s health, there is no provision for the monitoring of such compliance at the national level. When the State Labour Inspectorate performs inspections at undertakings, it is informed of those workers with occupational diseases employed in the undertaking, and then checks the measures implemented by the employer with respect to the harmful factors in the work environment. When the inspector finds that an employer has not prevented the impact of the factors causing an occupational disease, a penalty is imposed, pursuant to the Code of Administrative Violations. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that pursuant to the Law on Mandatory Social Insurance against Accidents at Work and Occupational Diseases of 2 November 1995, workers who suffer from an occupational disease and have lost at least 25 per cent of their working ability are entitled to receive insurance compensation, which includes monetary compensation and the provision of professional rehabilitation services. Noting that the information provided by the Government on the measures taken in the course of inspections concerns workers diagnosed with an occupational disease, the Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on any monitoring undertaken with respect to employers’ obligation under paragraph 58 of Cabinet Regulation No. 219 for workers for whom it has been determined that it is medically inadvisable for continued work involving exposure to ionizing radiations but who have not been diagnosed with an occupational disease. Similarly, the Committee requests the Government to indicate if the compensation scheme described above also applies to situations before an illness has been declared, but after it has been determined that it is medically inadvisable for a worker to be assigned to work involving exposure to ionizing radiations.