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Previous comments: C.148, C.155 and C.187
1. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report.
2. Part IV of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s reference to the activities of the National Occupational Safety and Health Group, which was established to ensure the application in practice of national legislative provisions and is made up of representatives of the central administration of the State, national trade unions, heads of provincial occupational health programmes of the Ministry of Public Health, and occupational safety subdirectors from provincial labour directorates. The Government indicates in its report that the objectives of this Group are as follows: to assess the occupational safety and health situation and provide guidance in respect of the policies and actions to be adopted by bodies and provinces in order to contribute to reducing cases of occupational accidents and work-related deaths; to strengthen the Protected Areas Movement (Movimiento de Areas Protegidas), as a basis for mass movements to improve working conditions, reduce accidents, fires and occupational illnesses and create a culture of occupational safety and health; and to strengthen communication-related work, by stepping up the activities of the public welfare campaign on occupational safety and health, and through activities relating to the National Occupational Safety and Health Day. The Committee notes the statistical information on occupational illnesses diagnosed in the country in 2003 and 2004, which shows a general reduction in the number of cases of illnesses, yet an increase in some of them. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice and to send, with its next report, extracts from inspection service reports and information indicating the number of workers covered by the measures adopted to apply the Convention, and the number and nature of the violations that have been reported.
The Committee notes with interest the Government's reply to its previous comments concerning the national system of statistical information and statistical data on occupational safety and health. It notes in particular the statistics regarding occupational safety and health inspection contained in the report. The Committee hopes the Government will continue to include, in its future reports, information on the practical application of the Convention, including extracts from the reports of the inspection services, as well as information on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, and the number and nature of contraventions reported, as called for under Part IV of the report form.
In its previous comments, the Committee has requested the Government to provide statistics on the number of workers covered by the legislation relevant to the Convention and the number and nature of any contraventions reported, in accordance with point IV of the report form. In its latest report, the Government has indicated that contacts with the Ministry of Public Health are being pursued with a view to installing a System for Statistical Information at the national level which would permit collection of the statistics called for in the report form. The Government has also referred to its report under the Labour Inspection Convention No. 81 and its annual inspection report for the year 1992 which provides general information and statistics on the number and type of inspection visits carried out and the number and nature of occupational accidents. While the Committee has noted that the inspection report does not provide statistics concerning occupational diseases, it does also note the information provided by the Government under Convention No. 81 concerning the powers and functions of the State Sanitary Inspectorate under the Ministry of Public Health with respect to the preventive and remedial action to be taken to ensure the protection of workers' health. The Government is requested to keep the Office informed of the progress made in fully establishing the National System for Statistical Information concerning Occupational Medicine and to continue to provide any statistics available concerning the practical application of the Convention.
Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided in the Government's report to the effect that a National System for Statistical Information concerning Occupational Medicine has recently begun its work but that it will be necessary to wait until its complete introduction into the national system in order to obtain its results. The Committee would recall that point IV of the report form requests member States which have ratified the Convention to provide extracts from inspection service reports which would indicate the manner in which the Convention is applied. Point IV also calls for information to be provided, where such statistics exist, on the number of workers covered by the legislation and other measures, as well as on the number and nature of the contraventions reported. The Committee hopes that the National System for Statistical Information concerning Occupational Medicine will be in a position to compile the relevant statistics in the near future and requests the Government to indicate in its next report the progress made in this regard.