"In accordance with the Joint
Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the
Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macao (hereinafter
referred to as the Joint Declaration), the Government of the People's Republic
of China will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Macao with effect from 20
December 1999. Macao will, from that date, become a Special Administrative
Region of the People's Republic of China and will enjoy a high degree of autonomy,
except in foreign and defence affairs which are the responsibilities of the
Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.
It is provided both in section VIII of
Elaboration by the Government of the People's Republic of China of its Basic
Policies Regarding Macao, which is Annex I to the Joint Declaration, and
Article 138 of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the
People's Republic of China, which was adopted on 31 March 1993 by the National
People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, that international
agreements to which the People's Republic of China is not yet a party but which
are implemented in Macao may continue to be implemented in the Macao Special
Administrative Region.
In accordance with the above provisions, I
am instructed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of
China to inform Your Excellency of the following:
Convention concerning the Protection of
workers against Ionising Radiations (No. 115), adopted at Geneva on 22 June
1960 (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), which applies to
Macao at present, will continue to apply to the Macao Special Administrative
Region with effect from 20 December 1999.
The Government of the People's Republic of
China will assume the responsibility for the international rights and
obligations arising from the application of the Convention to the Macao Special
Administrative Region."
Convention concerning the Protection of
Workers against Ionising Radiations
(ILO No. 115)
(Adopted at Geneva on 22
June 1960)
The General
Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been
convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office,
and having met in its Forty-fourth Session on 1 June 1960, and
Having decided upon
the adoption of certain proposals with regard to the protection of workers
against ionising radiations, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the
session, and
Having determined
that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,
adopts this
twenty-second day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty the
following Convention, which may be cited as the Radiation Protection
Convention, 1960:
PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Each Member of the
International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to
give effect thereto by means of laws or regulations, codes of practice or other
appropriate means. In applying the provisions of the Convention the competent
authority shall consult with representatives of employers and workers.
Article 2
1. This Convention
applies to all activities involving exposure of workers to ionising radiations
in the course of their work.
2. This Convention
does not apply to radioactive substances, whether sealed or unsealed, nor to
apparatus generating ionising radiations which substances or apparatus, owing
to the limited doses of ionising radiations which can be received from them,
are exempted from its provisions by one of the methods of giving effect to the
Convention mentioned in Article 1.
Article 3
1. In the light of
knowledge available at the time, all appropriate steps shall be taken to ensure
effective protection of workers, as regards their health and safety, against
ionising radiations.
2. Rules and
measures necessary for this purpose shall be adopted, and data essential for
effective protection shall be made available.
3. With a view to
ensuring such effective protection--
(a) measures for
the protection of workers against ionising radiations adopted after
ratification of the Convention by the Member concerned shall comply with the
provisions thereof;
(b) the Member
concerned shall notify, as soon as practicable, measures adopted by it prior to
the ratification of the Convention, so as to comply with the provisions
thereof, and shall promote such modification of other measures existing at the
time of ratification;
(c) the Member
concerned shall communicate to the Director-General of the International Labour
Office, when ratifying the Convention, a statement indicating the manner in
which and the categories of workers to which the provisions of the Convention
are applied, and shall indicate in its reports on the application of the
Convention any further progress made in the matter;
(d) at the expiration
of three years from the date on which this Convention first enters into force
the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall submit to the
Conference a special report concerning the application of subparagraph (b) of
this paragraph and containing such proposals as it may think appropriate for
further action in regard to the matter.
PART II. PROTECTIVE MEASURES
Article 4
The activities
referred to in Article 2 shall be so arranged and conducted as to afford the
protection envisaged in this Part of the Convention.
Article 5
Every effort shall
be made to restrict the exposure of workers to ionising radiations to the
lowest practicable level, and any unnecessary exposure shall be avoided by all
parties concerned.
Article 6
1. Maximum
permissible doses of ionising radiations which may be received from sources
external to or internal to the body and maximum permissible amounts of
radioactive substances which can be taken into the body shall be fixed in
accordance with Part I of this Convention for various categories of workers.
2. Such maximum
permissible doses and amounts shall be kept under constant review in the light
of current knowledge.
Article 7
1. Appropriate
levels shall be fixed in accordance with Article 6 for workers who are directly
engaged in radiation work and are--
(a) aged 18 and
over;
(b) under the age
of 18.
2. No worker under
the age of 16 shall be engaged in work involving ionising radiations.
Article 8
Appropriate levels
shall be fixed in accordance with Article 6 for workers who are not directly
engaged in radiation work, but who remain or pass where they may be exposed to
ionising radiations or radioactive substances.
Article 9
1. Appropriate
warnings shall be used to indicate the presence of hazards from ionising
radiations. Any information necessary in this connection shall be supplied to
the workers.
2. All workers
directly engaged in radiation work shall be adequately instructed, before and
during such employment, in the precautions to be taken for their protection, as
regards their health and safety, and the reasons therefor.
Article 10
Laws or regulations
shall require the notification in a manner prescribed thereby of work involving
exposure of workers to ionising radiations in the course of their work.
Article 11
Appropriate
monitoring of workers and places of work shall be carried out in order to
measure the exposure of workers to ionising radiations and radioactive
substances, with a view to ascertaining that the applicable levels are
respected.
Article 12
All workers
directly engaged in radiation work shall undergo an appropriate medical
examination prior to or shortly after taking up such work and subsequently
undergo further medical examinations at appropriate intervals.
Article 13
Circumstances shall
be specified, by one of the methods of giving effect to the Convention
mentioned in Article 1, in which, because of the nature or degree of the
exposure or a combination of both, the following action shall be taken
promptly:
(a) the worker shall
undergo an appropriate medical examination;
(b) the employer
shall notify the competent authority in accordance with its requirements;
(c) persons
competent in radiation protection shall examine the conditions in which the
worker's duties are performed;
(d) the employer
shall take any necessary remedial action on the basis of the technical findings
and the medical advice.
Article 14
No worker shall be
employed or shall continue to be employed in work by reason of which the worker
could be subject to exposure to ionising radiations contrary to qualified
medical advice.
Article 15
Each Member which
ratifies this Convention undertakes to provide appropriate inspection services
for the purpose of supervising the application of its provisions, or to satisfy
itself that appropriate inspection is carried out.
PART III. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 16
The formal
ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General
of the International Labour Office for registration.
Article 17
1. This Convention
shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour
Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the
Director-General.
2. It shall come
into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two
Members have been registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this
Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on
which its ratification has been registered.
Article 18
1. A Member which
has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years
from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act
communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for
registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the
date on which it is registered.
2. Each Member
which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year
following the expiration of the period of five years mentioned in the preceding
paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article,
will be bound for another period of five years and, thereafter, may denounce
this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms
provided for in this Article.
Article 19
1. The Director-General
of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the
International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and
denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. When notifying
the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second ratification
communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the
Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come
into force.
Article 20
The Director-General
of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all ratifications and acts of
denunciation registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the
preceding Articles.
Article 21
At such times as it
may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office
shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this
Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the
Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.
Article 22
1. Should the
Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part,
then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
a) the ratification
by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the
immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of
Article 18 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into
force;
b) as from the date
when the new revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall cease
to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. This Convention
shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those
Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.
Article 23
The English and
French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.