March 25, 2014
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2014 March 19 - 25 [LABOR]
Ex-NPP worker achieves recognition of his disease as work-related |
The man, living in Kobe City in Hyogo Prefecture, started to work for a third tier subcontractor of the Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) in 1983. He was assigned to maintenance work, such as inspecting valves, at the utility’s nuclear power plants including Takahama, Oi, and Mihama. The worker sometimes had to work under conditions allowing him to work for only 15 minutes at a time because of the high levels of radiation.
In July 2011, the worker was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma based on results of a regular health examination. He then underwent surgery and anticancer drug treatment. When he reached the retirement age of 60 during his hospital stay, the company stopped paying his health insurance without notice and provided no information about work-related disease compensations. As he received no public assistance, he used up his retirement benefits to pay medical fees.
“I thought my employer and KEPCO will look after me, but that was just wishful thinking,” the man recollected.
In December 2012, with the help of a lawyer, he filed a claim for occupational disease compensation with the Kobe West Labor Standards Inspection Office and recently his claim was approved.
“I feel relieved that I was able to obtain the official recognition. If workers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant have health problems, the national government should take appropriate measures without delay.” the former NPP worker said.
Lawyer Fujiwara Seigo, who supported the man, said, “Working at a nuclear power plant is without doubt a dangerous job. The Labor and Welfare Ministry should work toward improvement of occupational safety and health regulations and the procedure involved in workers’ applications for occupational disease recognition.”
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