<Tentative Translation>

Transcription

1 <Tentative Translation> Overview of the Guidelines on Protecting Workers Engaged in Works under Designated Dose Rate (Director of the Labour Standards Bureau, Notification 0615, No. 6, dated June 15, 2012) (Note) For decontamination works, etc. (*), see Guidelines for Protecting Workers Engaged in Decontamination, etc. from Radiation Disorders (Director of the Labour Standards Bureau, Notification 1222, No. 6, dated December 22, 2011). (*) (a) Decontamination, etc. of soil or wastes, (b) collection, transportation, or storage of contaminated waste or removed soil (with a cesium radioactivity concentration exceeding 10,000 Bq/kg), (c) handling (except for decontamination, etc. of soil or wastes and collection, etc. of waste) of designated contaminated soil or wastes (contaminated soil or wastes with a cesium radioactivity concentration exceeding 10,000 Bq/kg), in special decontamination areas and intensive contamination survey areas, as designated by the Act on Special Measures concerning the Handling of Pollution by Radioactive Materials 1. Application, etc. Works under designated dose rate refers to works other than the decontamination, etc. conducted in places with an average ambient dose rate exceeding 2.5 µsv/h in special decontamination areas and intensive contamination survey areas. Pursuant to this provision, note the following considerations: a. Indoor works in manufacturing, etc., with an average ambient dose rate of 2.5 µsv/h or less do not fall into works under designated dose rate, even if outdoor average ambient dose exceeds 2.5 µsv/h. b. Works involving vehicle driving and handling works, accompanying them should fall under the category of works under designated dose rate only (1) when the place for carrying the cargo in or out (except for those accompanying the reconstruction work of the living infrastructure) exceeds an average ambient dose rate of 2.5 µsv/h and when workers engage in works where they are expected to remain in places with exposure exceeding 2.5 µsv/h for at least 40 hours per month, or (2) when workers are engaged 1

2 in the transportation of cargo (such as construction machinery, construction materials, soil, or gravel) accompanying the reconstruction of the living infrastructure in places with exposure exceeding 2.5 µsv/h. It should also be noted that, when any worker merely passes through a region with exposure exceeding an average ambient dose rate of 2.5 µsv/h, the duration of the stay there will be limited. Such work should therefore not fall under the category of works under designated dose rate. c. For places where exposure may exceed 2.5 µsv/h due to a controlled radiation source such as X-ray devices, they should therefore continue to be handled as controlled regions pursuant to Article 3, Section 1 of the Ordinance. Because works under designated dose rate should be limited to those in places with exposure exceeding 2.5 µsv/h due to accident-derived radiation substances. 2. Fundamental Principles (1) Employers should endeavor to minimize the exposure of workers to ionizing radiation. (2) In works under designated dose rate, employers should prioritize the reduction of radiation exposure to workers engaged in works under designated dose rate (hereinafter referred to as workers engaged in works under designated dose rate ). Employers should make efforts to take such measures as decontamination at work sites beforehand. In considering that higher exposure tends to be associated with longer work hours, and that such works may not be urgent in view of the principle of justification, employers engaged in manufacturing, commerce, and/or other business should conduct decontamination around their work sites beforehand to reduce exposure, and engage workers in the operation using an ambient dose rate (no higher than 2.5 µsv/h) that does not require exposure control. 3. Object of Exposure Dose Control and Methodology of Exposure Dose Measurement (1) Employers should, when engaging workers in works under designated dose rate, use a personal dosimeter to measure their external exposure dose. (2) For self-employed persons and private business proprietors, it is difficult to take 2

3 such measures to control their exposure doses. It is therefore desirable for them not to engage in any works under designated dose rate by taking appropriate measures such as decontamination works, etc. in advance. a. Private business proprietors and self-employed persons engaged in works under designated dose rate unavoidably should be regarded as employers under designated dose rate and be subject to these guidelines. b. Volunteers should be engaged in works in places with an average ambient dose rate of 2.5 µsv/h (equivalent to 5 msv/year, working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks) or below and within dozens of times (days) a year to prevent their effective doses due to the works from exceeding 1 msv/year. (3) The exposure doses limits of workers are 100 msv in five years and 50 msv per year. (Women who are medically able to become pregnant should be limited to 5 msv in three months, while pregnant women should be limited to an equivalent dose of 2 msv in their stomach surfaces.) When workers who have been engaged in radiation works in a nuclear power plant or similar or workers who have been engaged in decontamination works, etc. are made to engage in any works under designated dose rate, employers should ensure that the sum of the effective dose of all works does not exceed the abovementioned limits. As for works under designated dose rate, if information is obtained about the doses to which the workers were exposed from January 1 to June 30, 2012, exposure dose should include the exposure doses of July 1, 2012 onwards. (4) Employers should, to control the exposure doses set forth in Paragraph (3), investigate whether the workers have a history of exposure (for those who do have an exposure history, specify the worksites, nature of the works, duration, and other matters concerning radiation exposure) via dose records issued for the relevant workers by their former employers (if the workers lack such record, they should be made to seek reissuance of such record from their former employers) when they are recruited or transferred to any work under designated dose rate. (5) Dose measurements should be recorded and stored for 30 years (after they are stored for five years or workers engaged in the relevant decontamination works, etc. leave their employ, the records may be delivered to a designated organization) and notify to the workers. 3

4 (6) When any worker hired by an employer for works under designated dose rate quits or when the employer terminates business, the employer should deliver a copy of the record mentioned in (5) to the worker of works under designated dose rate. (7) When an employer employs fixed-term employees or dispatched workers, the employer must take the following into consideration to ensure that radiation control is sufficiently practiced: a. When hiring workers under a work contract of less than three months or under a dispatch contract, measure and record their exposure doses every month. b. Sum up and record the effective doses taken by the workers during their contract term upon the expiration thereof, and then deliver copies of the records to said workers engaged in works under designated dose rate. 4. Measures for Reducing Exposure (1) When works under designated dose rate are to be conducted in a workplace, a preliminary survey of that workplace should be made beforehand (and once every two weeks to be continuously conducted at the same place). (2) Examination or treatment by physician should be promptly sought in certain situations, such as the (a) accidental inhalation intake or oral intake of radioactive substances, or (b) inability to have contamination level of a worker s body be 40 Bq/cm 2 or below by personal decontamination, etc. after being contaminated by radioactive substances. 5. Education for Workers (1) Employers under designated dose rate should give their workers special education in classroom form regarding the following subjects: a) Knowledge about health effect of ionizing radiation and the method of exposure dose control b) Knowledge about the method of exposure dose measuremnt, etc. 4

5 c) Applicable laws and regulations (2) The same should also be extended to any unemployed individuals, such as the self-employed, sole proprietors, and volunteers. (3) Contractees of works under designated dose rate should ensure that the number of educated workers will be made available by the time such works are scheduled to begin, and before actually placing an order. 6. Measures for Health Management (1) When employers hire workers who are regularly engaged in works under designated dose rate, they should conduct general medical examinations on those workers upon employment or reassignment to such works, and once a year thereafter. (2) Employers should prepare personal records based on the results of medical examinations and retain the cards for 5 years. (Such records may be passed on to a specified agency after having been retained for five years or when the workers engaged in works under designated dose rate concerned quit work.) 7. Organization for Safety and Health Management (1) The primary contractor should appoint a radiation manager to implement integrated exposure control including the affiliated contractors workers. (2) Employers should appoint a health manager or a safety and health promoter in accordance with the scale of their workplace for managing technical matters related to measuring exposure doses and the recording of results of measurement, worker education, and the health management. A safety and health promoter should also be appointed for a workplace housing less than 10 workers. Regardless of the scale of a workplace, employers should appoint a radiation manager to conduct works for measuring exposure doses and the recording of measurement results,. (3) When engaging workers who have been involved in emergency works at TEPCO s 5

6 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in any works under designated dose rate, employers should: a. Submit reports to the Industrial Health Division of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as provided for in the provision of Paragraph 2, Article 59 of the Ordinance on Prevention of Ionizing Radiation Hazards (hereinafter referred to as the Radiation Ordinance ). a) Submit copies of the workers personal records with the least delay after their medical examinations as noted in (1) under Section 6. above. b) Submit a Report on the Status of Implementing Dose Control, etc. (Radiation Ordinance Form No. 3) at the end of every three months. b. Implement health guidance, etc. pursuant to the Guidelines for Maintaining and Promoting the Health of Emergency Workers, etc. at TEPCO s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (i.e., Guidelines for Maintaining and Promoting the Health of Emergency Workers, etc. at TEPCO s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Notification No. 5, in 2011), and conduct relevant examinations, etc. on those workers exposed to a radiation dose exceeding 50 msv while engaged in emergency work. 6