Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 1986)

Referring to its observation on the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to supply further information on the following points.

1. Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that it will take the necessary action to consult the workers' and employers' representatives with respect to measures for the application of the Convention. The Committee recalls that in a previous report, the Government has indicated that formal consultations have been curtailed due to the fact that there are only a few scientifically qualified representatives from the employers' and workers' organizations. It hopes that the Government has undertaken the necessary measures so that consultations will no longer be curtailed by reason of the lack of scientifically qualified representatives and that it will provide information on the measures that have so far been taken to ensure that workers' and employers' representatives are consulted in the application of the Convention.

2. Article 7, paragraph 1 and Article 8 of the Convention. While appropriate regulations provide that "no person shall employ any person under the age of 18 years as a radiation worker", the Committee, in its 1993 direct request, noted that neither the applicable nor the draft regulations contain provisions to prevent workers who are not radiation workers, but who pass through areas where they may be exposed to radiation, to be exposed to levels of radiation over an appropriate limit. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the dose limit for the general public will apply to such workers and how this is going to be enforced in practice.

3. Article 13(a) of the Convention. The Committee notes from the information supplied by the Government in its last report that it is the current practice of the Atomic Energy Authority to request medical examinations for radiation workers who are exposed to a dose of more than 50 mSv during the period of surveillance. Under the 1990 recommendations of the ICRP, the relevant dose limits for radiation workers is placed at 20 mSv per year, averaged over five years, with the further provision that the relevant dose limit should not exceed 50 mSv in any single year. The Committee trusts that the Government had taken this matter into consideration in the adoption of new regulations for radiation protection and hopes that it will supply further information on measures adopted to apply Article 13(a) of the Convention in the light of the 1990 recommendations of the ICRP.

4. Article 14 of the Convention. The Committee notes the information submitted by the Government that upon advice by the medical practitioner after examination of an exposed person, action is immediately taken by the authority to implement his recommendations. The Committee requests the Government to supply further information on this matter, particularly on the measures taken to ensure that the exposed worker shall not be accepted for employment in another establishment involving exposure to ionizing radiation, on the provisions adopted to obtain that, as reported previously, alternative employment is provided wherever possible, and on any benefits that a discharged worker is entitled to receive.

5. The Committee notes the Government's intention to revise the Code of Practice on Radiation Accidents so as to incorporate dose limits for emergency conditions based on the 1990 recommendations of the ICRP. In this regard, the Committee once again refers the Government to the explanations provided in paragraphs 16 to 27 of the 1992 general observation under this Convention, concerning the limitation of occupational exposure during and after an emergency. It requests the Government to indicate the steps taken or envisaged with respect to the protection against accidents and emergencies raised in paragraph 35(c), in particular subparagraph (iii), of the said general observation, concerning the strict definition of circumstances in which exceptional exposure of workers is to be allowed.