A recommendation received from the Labor Policy Council confirming the validity of the “Outline of the Draft Ministerial Ordinance for Partial Revision of the Ordinance on Prevention of Ionizing Radiation Hazards”
Today, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare consulted with the Labor Policy Council (Chaired by Yoshio Higuchi, Professor of Business and Commerce at Keio University) (hereafter referred to as the Council) about the “Outline of the Draft Partial Revision of Ministerial Ordinance on Prevention of Ionizing Radiation Hazards.”
Upon the request, the topic was discussed in the Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (Chaired by Ritsu Dobashi, Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo). Based on the discussion, the Council issued a recommendation to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare that it would be valid.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, in accordance with the recommendation from the Council, will consult with the Radiation Council and revise the ministerial ordinance in accordance with the recommendation from the Council without delay.
[Key points of the draft ministerial ordinance]
< Draft Ministerial Ordinance for Partial Revision of the Ordinance on Prevention of Ionizing Radiation Hazards >
To be promulgated and enforced in August 2015 and on 1 April 2016, respectively.
- Setting of the exceptional emergency dose limits
- In consideration of the situation of the accident concerning the emergency works and other circumstances, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may set a special dose limit (exceptional emergency dose limit) not exceeding 250 mSv when the Minister acknowledges that it is difficult to observe the dose limit of 100 mSv during the emergency works.In a situation when a nuclear emergency or a state highly likely to lead to a nuclear emergency arises, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare shall immediately define the exceptional emergency dose limit as 250 mSv.The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare shall lift the exceptional emergency dose limit as early as possible by taking into consideration the radiation dose of the exceptional emergency workers, and works required to terminate the accident and other conditions.
- Limitation of exceptional emergency workers
- Employers shall select exceptional emergency workers from among the nuclear disaster prevention workers specified in the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness.
- Optimization of exposure dose control during exceptional emergency works
- Employers shall ensure that the exposure dose of workers will not exceed the exceptional emergency dose limit during the exceptional emergency work. Employers shall also make efforts to minimize the risks that exceptional emergency workers are exposed to ionizing radiation depending on the circumstances of the accident.
- Submission etc., of records of the exceptional emergency workers
- Employers shall report medical examination results and exposure dose etc. of individual workers to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for the exceptional emergency works.
- Measurements and confirmation, recording and reporting of the results of exposure dose of emergency workers
- Employers shall conduct internal-exposure measurements of emergency workers once within one month. In addition, based on the measured radiation dose, employers shall calculate and record the sum of workers’ effective doses monthly, annually and in every 5 years without delay, and preserve the records for 30 years. Employers shall report periodically the number of workers for the emergency works that fall into every classification of effective dose, etc. to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
- Special education provided to exceptional emergency workers
- When assigning workers to the exceptional emergency works, employers shall provide those workers with the special education providing knowledge for the methods of exceptional emergency works, etc.
- Emergency Ionizing Radiation Medical Examination
- Employers shall provide medical examinations by a medical doctor of white blood cell count, differential count, etc. once within one month for emergency workers as well as when the workers are transferred from the emergency works to other work or at the time of termination of their employment. In addition, employers shall record examination results, hear opinions from the medical doctor, notify workers of the examination results, report to the Labour Standards Inspection Office having jurisdiction the results of the medical examination, and take aftercare measures based on the medical examination results to protect the health of the workers.
Attachment
- Consultation PDF 28KB
- Recommendation PDF 12KB
- Draft Ministerial Ordinance for Partial Revision of the Ordinance on Prevention of Ionizing Radiation Hazards (Outline) PDF 427KB
(Note)
Materials distributed in, and minutes of, the Committee may be viewed at the MHLW website (https://www.mhlw.go.jp) (Council/Committee - Labor Policy Council - Committee on Occupational Safety and Health) (In Japanese)
< For Reference >
In conjunction with the partial revision of the Ordinance on Prevention of Ionizing Radiation Hazards, the ministerial guideline* for the long-term healthcare of emergency workers will also be revised.
- *
- Guidelines for Maintenance/Improvement of the Health of Emergency Workers at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Public Notice No. 5 issued on 11 October 2011, Guideline for improving health maintenance of emergency workers at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant)
[Key points of the revision of the ministerial guideline]
- Change of Name
- The name of the guideline will be modified to Guidelines for Maintenance/Improvement of the Health of Emergency Workers at Nuclear Facilities.
- Healthcare after being engaged in emergency works
- A chest CT as well as infectious disease test, chronic kidney disease test and antismoking education will be added to examination items such as cancer screening for workers whose exposure dose exceeds 100 mSv during emergency works.
- A stress check will be provided to all emergency workers as much as possible.
- Exposure dose control for workers who are exposed to the dose beyond the dose limit for regular radiation works during the subsequent dose control terms
- Employers shall control workers exposure dose so as not to exceed the radiation exposure for regular radiation works (100 mSv per 5-year period, and 50 mSv per 1-year period) and lifetime dose limit of 1 Sv for the total of emergency exposure dose and regular exposure dose.
- Exposure dose control for the regular radiation works during the exposure dose control period including the time of the accident
- Employer may assign normal radiation works where additional exposure is being controlled under 5 mSv/year, only to workers whose total radiation exposure dose (total of emergency exposure dose and normal exposure dose) exceeds 100 mSv, provided that they are part of essential human resources to guarantee safe operation of the nuclear facility.
