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The Committee has noted the information supplied by the Government concerning draft regulations on radiation protection to supplement already existing regulations. It requires the Government to indicate whether these regulations have been adopted and, if so, to supply copies of them with the next report.

I. Article 8 of the Convention. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government to the effect that the maximum level of exposure to ionising radiations for workers not directly engaged in radiation work is one-tenth of the limit of exposure for workers engaged in radiation work. It notes that section 8 of the Joint Ministerial Decision No. A2/1539 on the fundamental safety standards for the health protection of the public and workers against ionising radiations fixes a limit for whole body exposure to ionising radiations at 50 mSv per year for workers engaged in radiation work. Thus, the maximum exposure limit for workers not directly engaged in radiation work would be 5 mSv.

The Committee would call the Government's attention to paragraph 5.4.5 of the ILO Code of Practice for the Radiation Protection of Workers (ionising radiations). This paragraph provides that the dose limits for workers not directly engaged in radiation work should be the same as the dose limits applicable for members of the public. According to the 1985 statement of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the annual effective dose equivalent limit for members of the public should be 1 mSv. A subsidiary dose limit of 5 mSv in a year, for some years, is permissible, provided that the annual dose equivalent over a lifetime does not exceed the principal limit of 1 mSv in a year. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the average annual dose equivalent over a lifetime for workers not directly engaged in radiation work does not exceed 1 mSv.

II. General observation

1. The Committee would also like to call the Government's attention to the general observation of 1987. This observation requested information concerning special measures to be taken in abnormal situations. The Committee would again request the Government to supply information concerning the limits of exposure which have been fixed for workers called to intervene in abnormal situations and the criteria used to set these limits in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that, once the initial event has been brought under control, the remaining remedial work is carried out within the dose equivalent limits.

2. The Committee notes that section 2 of Ministerial Decision No. A2/1539 excludes "natural background radiation" from the permissible dose equivalent. It requests the Government to indicate how this "natural background radiation" is determined and how the background radiation as a result of earlier incidents, not necessarily occurring at the workplace in question (such incidents may affect the total amount of radiation workers are exposed to even if they occur at a great distance from the workplace), is taken into account when determining the amount of radiation to which a worker is being exposed. It further requests the Government to indicate if measures have been taken to specify dangerously cumulating background radiation as one of the circumstances in which remedial action necessary to protect the worker from exposure to ionising radiations beyond fixed limits is taken by the employer, in accordance with Article 13(d).