Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Mexico (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government in its last report, as well as the draft standards respecting safety and health conditions in workplaces in which sources generating or emitting ionizing radiation capable of contaminating the work environment are handled, stored or transported (NOM-012-STPS-1993).

1. Articles 3, paragraph 1, and 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention. In accordance with these provisions, all appropriate steps shall be taken to ensure effective protection of workers against ionizing radiations, and maximum permissible doses and amounts shall be kept under constant review in the light of the available knowledge. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the preparation and submission for discussion of the draft standard NOM-012-STPS-1993, with a view to its adoption. According to the Government's indications, the standard determines, among other matters, the revised maximum doses for occupational exposure. According to the information provided, the criteria, set out in this standard will be harmonized with those established in the General Radiological Security Regulations, bring up to date the limits of superficial contamination in accordance with the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and incorporate the concept of radiological health protection with a view to changing the medical examinations of workers. The Committee also notes the information concerning the participation of the Government in the preparation of the international Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (which were adopted and published in 1994) and that the Government envisages adopting them as a basis for its next review of the national regulations in a legislative process which lasts approximately three years. The Committee requests the Government to report on the progress made in law and practice in this respect.

2. Accidents and cases of emergency. The Committee notes the information provided concerning the measures required in abnormal situations. The Government defines abnormal conditions in its report as being those in which sources of irradiation are out of direct control and can only be limited through the application of corrective measures. From the information provided, the Committee notes that different maximum permissible doses are established for different situations (General Radiological Safety Regulations, Title III, sections 47 and 48). In operations which are designed to save lives or prevent the irradiation of a large number of persons, the estimated maximum limit of the effective dose will be 1 Sv; for hands and forearms it will be 3 Sv. In the case of the various situations referred to above, such as protecting valuable installations or controlling fires, the maximum dose limit will be 250 mSv, and for the hands and forearms it will be 1 Sv. With reference to paragraphs 23 to 27 and 35(c) of its general observation of 1992, and to paragraphs V.27 and V.30 of the international basic standards of 1994, the Committee draws the Government's attention to the need to ensure that immediate and urgent remedial work is strictly limited to what is required to meet an acute danger to life and health; exceptional exposure of workers is neither justified for the purpose of rescuing items of high material value, nor, more generally, because alternative techniques of intervention, which do not involve such exposure of workers, would involve an excessive expense. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures which have been adopted or are envisaged in relation to the new exposure limits for abnormal circumstances established by the ICRP in 1990, and the questions raised in paragraph 35(c) , particularly regarding the acquisition of effective robotized equipment or other techniques avoiding exceptional exposure of workers.

3. Alternative employment. Article 14. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government previously with regard to alternative employment in cases where, for reasons of health, the worker is advised from a medical point of view to interrupt work which involves exposure to ionizing radiations. The Committee notes the information that, in accordance with sections 498 and 499 of the Federal Labour Act, in cases where a worker is the victim of a risk and cannot perform her or his work, but some other work, the employer is obliged to provide such work, in accordance with the provisions of the collective labour agreement. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report any collective agreements in enterprises which work with ionizing radiations under which the employer is required to provide alternative employment which does not involve exposure to ionizing radiations for workers who have accumulated an effective dose beyond which detriment considered unacceptable may occur, and to transmit copies of such collective agreements.

The Committee notes the detailed information provided in relation to Article 13. The Committee notes the information concerning the inspection activities carried out by the National Nuclear Safety and Safeguards Commission and would be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, as requested in Part V of the report form.