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1. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report, in particular the information that the general regulations on health and safety in industrial establishments are under revision and will allow for the following provisions of the Convention to be taken into account.

Article 1. Scope of the application; Article 6, paragraph 2. Joint liability of employers; Article 11. Supervision of the health of workers and medical examinations; Article 12. Use of processes, substances, machinery and equipment, following authorization by the competent authority; Article 15. Competent person appointed by the employer. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide it with a copy of the text as soon as it has been adopted and to keep it informed of any related developments. The Committee also wishes to bring the Government’s attention to the following points.

2. Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention. Technical standards and codes of practice. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any technical standards or codes of practice have been adopted to apply the measures prescribed by the Convention.

3. Article 7, paragraph 2. Right of recourse to the appropriate body to ensure protection against occupational hazards. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures ensuring that the workers or their representatives have recourse to the appropriate body so as to ensure protection against occupational hazards due to air pollution, noise and vibration in the working environment.

4. Article 8, paragraphs 1 and 3. Criteria and exposure limits, revision of criteria at regular intervals. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures allowing for the establishment of the criteria defining risks of exposure to air pollution and vibration in the workplace, as well as exposure limits. It also requests the Government to indicate the provisions ensuring that these criteria are supplemented and revised regularly in the light of current national and international knowledge and data, taking into account as far as possible any increase in occupational hazards resulting from simultaneous exposure to several harmful factors at the workplace.

5. Article 8, paragraph 2. The opinion of competent persons. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the provisions ensuring that the competent authority shall take into account the opinion of technically competent persons designated by the most representative organizations of employers and workers.

6. Article 9. Technical measures applied to new plant and supplementary organizational measures. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether technical measures applied to new plant or processes, as well as supplementary organizational measures, have been adopted to eliminate, as far as possible, any hazard due to air pollution, noise or vibration in the working environment.

7. Article 10. Working without personal protective equipment. The Committee notes that the employer shall provide the worker with personal protective equipment. In this regard, it requests the Government to indicate the measures ensuring that the employer shall not require a worker to work without the personal protective equipment provided.

8. Part IV of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the information provided in the Department of Occupational Safety and Health progress report for 2003. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide such information, in particular extracts from the reports of the inspection services, statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, disaggregated by sex, if available, the number and nature of contraventions reported, as well as any information that would allow the Committee to assess more accurately how the Convention is applied in the country.