Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

In Focus: Radiation Protection at Works Relating to TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Press release

9 August 2013
Office for Radiation Protection of Workers
Industrial Health Division
Occupational Safety and Health Department
Labour Standards Bureau

Re: Current implementation status of the long-term health care for emergency workers at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

  1. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), pursuant to applicable Acts and Ordinances or Guidelines,(Note 1) is providing a long-term health care for emergency workers (Note 2) at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant including a cancer screening based on the radiation exposure dose of the worker. In addition, the MHLW has developed a database that registers the radiation exposure doses, results of medical examination, etc. to efficiently manage the data concerning the involved workers.
    Today, those data were compiled to create the larger report of the current implementation status of the long-term medical care based on the report received from each employer (see Annex for detail).

Key points

  1. Issuance of registration cards (Note 3)
    1. Out of 19,346 emergency workers registration cards have been issued to 18,874 workers (97.6%) to date.
    2. The search for addresses of the remaining 472 workers (Note 4) to whom the registration cards have not been sent (410 workers due to unknown new addresses or long-term absence, and 62 workers without contact information) has been continued.
  2. Issuance of radiation passbooks (Note 5)
    1. Out of 903 designated emergency workers(Note 6) (August 2013) radiation passbooks have been issued to 747 workers (82.7%) to date.
    2. A letter encouraging an application for the radiation passbook was sent to employers whose workers had not applied for the passbook in February 2013. We will continue to encourage workers to apply for the passbook.
  3. Registration of the medical examination results in the database (October 2011 - September 2012)
    1. Results of the survey on implementation status of medical examinations for designated emergency workers (Table 1)
      The implementation rate for the special medical examinations: 98.1%
      The implementation rate for the general medical examinations: 98.8%
    2. Registration of the medical examination results of the designated emergency workers in the database (Table 2)
      The database registration rate for the special medical examination results: 76.6%
      The database registration rate for the general medical examination results: 64.1%
  4. Registration of the cancer screening results (specified in the guidelines for the designated emergency workers) in the database
    1. Encouraging cancer screening, (Note 7) etc. specified in the guidelines
      Employers were requested to appropriately conduct cancer screenings several times during the period from June 2012 to November 2012. A survey was sent to the addresses of all workers once a year.
    2. Results of the survey on participation in the cancer screenings (during the period from October 2011 to March 2013)(Table 3)
      The implementation rate for eye examinations: 68.3%
      The implementation rate for cancer screening, etc.: 94.7%
    3. Registration of the cancer screening results, etc. in the database (during the period from October 2011 to September 2012) (Table 4 to 5)
      The database registration rate for eye examinations is 12.9% (Note 8) and cancer screening is 70.9% for active workers
      The reporting rate for eye examinations is 38.3% and 46.7% for cancer screenings, respectively for the workers who terminated employment
  5. Consultation at the health consultations/guidance desks (during the period from April 2012 to March 2013) (Table 6 to 7)
    A number of consultations: 173 consultations were requested, including 104 on long-term health care, and 102 on the effect of radiation exposure and health.
  1. Response initiated by the MHLW
    1. Response based on the results of the survey on the current implementation status of medical examinations The MHLW instructed TEPCO and 81 primary contractors responsible for managing workers whose medical examination results have not been reported to conduct a survey that assessed the implementation status of the medical examinations and the causes for the failure of reporting to prevent recurrence. Furthermore, the message that urges prompt submission of any unreported medical examination results to the MHLW was included.
    2. Actions based on the results of the survey on current implementation status of the cancer screenings pursuant to the guidelines
      The MHLW instructed TEPCO and 50 primary contractors responsible for managing workers whose cancer screening results have not been reported to encourage workers to have eye examinations for cataract and cancer screenings so that everyone who are interested will be able to receive the examinations and screenings. In addition, the MHLW instructed the employers to submit medical examination results which have not been reported to the MHLW as soon as possible with the consent of workers.
      The MHLW will conduct a survey on the current health status of the designated emergency workers once a year to identify workers who terminated employment and directly encourage all designated emergency workers to have medical examinations.
(Note 1)
Guidelines on Maintaining and Improving Health of Emergency Workers at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Public Notice No. 5, 11 October 2011)
(Note 2)
For workers to whom the emergency radiation exposure dose limit (100 mSv raised to 250 mSv for the period from 14 March 2011- 16 December 2011) is applied. In principle, the limit of 250 mSv is applied to workers engaged in the emergency work before 15 December 2011.
(Note 3)
TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Worker Registration Card for confirmation of registration in the long-term health care management system
(Note 4)
The average radiation exposure dose for 472 workers was 7.67 mSv; the maximum dose reported was 45.07 mSv.
(Note 5)
A designated worker radiation exposure dose passbook is issued upon application by the designated worker whose effective dose received during the period engaged in the emergency work exceeds 50 mSv (designated emergency workers).
(Note 6)
Emergency workers whose radiation exposure doses exceeded 50 mSv while engaged in emergency work.
(Note 7)
Employers are required to provide eye examinations for cataract for designated emergency workers whose effective dose exceeds 50 mSv and cancer screenings and other examinations for the same workers whose effective dose exceeds 100 mSv, according to the Guidelines on Maintaining and Improving Health of Emergency Workers at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. These examinations and screenings are provided by the national government after workers terminated employment.
(Note 8)
The low registration rate is attributed to the extraction of the data for eye examinations of 389 workers conducted by TEPCO during the period from July 2012 to March 2013.
Attachment
  1. Current implementation status of the long-term health care for emergency workers at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant PDF 233KB