Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

1. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report including the observations submitted by the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (CISL), and the Italian Union of Labour (UIL) attached thereto. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

2. Article 1, paragraphs 1-3, of the Convention. Prohibited substances or substances subject to authorization. The Committee notes the information submitted by the Government as regards paragraph 1 of this Article that, while the relevant legislation referred to in its previous reports in other respects remains the same, Legislative Decree No. 25 was adopted on 2 February 2002, in application of Directive 98/24/EC on the protection of the health and safety of workers from the risks related to chemicals at work, entailing a repeal of Chapter II and Annexes I, II, III IV and VII of Legislative Decree No. 277 of 15 August 1991, Legislative Decree No. 77 of 25 January 1992 and items 1 to 44 and 47 of the table annexed to DPR No. 303 of 19 March 1956. The Committee notes the information that accordingly, four chemical agents have been added to the list of prohibited chemicals, but that this changed legislation does not affect the continued prohibition against the use of asbestos. With reference to paragraph 2 of this Article, the Committee notes the information that the prohibition against the use of chemical agents does not apply if an agent is present in the preparation, or any component of waste, provided that the individual concentration is less than the limit prescribed in relevant legislation, and with reference to paragraph 3, that the following activities may be performed subject to prior authorization: (a) activities for the exclusive purposes of scientific research and experiment, including analysis; (b) activities to eliminate chemical agents present in the form of by-products or waste; and (c) production of chemical agents for intermediate use.

3. Article 3. Preventive measures and record keeping. In response to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest the Government’s detailed explanations of the preventive and protective measures prescribed in sections 62, 63 and 64 of Legislative Decree No. 626/94, as amended up to Decree No. 25/02, the further detailed information concerning the functions and competence of the Higher Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (ISPESL), the Information System for Recording Exposure and Pathologies in the Workplace (SIREP), and the establishment of a new cancer report database on the basis of notifications of tumours suspected to be of occupational origin suffered by National Health System patients. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of President of the Council of Ministers Decree No. 308 of December 2002, containing regulations to determine a model and method of keeping records of cases of asbestos-related mesothelioma as well as Minister of Labour and Social Policies Decree of 27 April 2004, the main purpose of which is to constitute a uniform source of information covering the whole national territory through management of the national archive of occupational diseases managed by the National Institute for Occupational Accident Insurance (INAIL). The Government reports that this system is expected to enable a monitoring of national patterns of occupational diseases. In this context, the Committee also notes that the Government’s report does not specifically address the observations made by the CGIL, CISL and UIL that, in their view, the provisions in section 72(11) of Decree No. 626/94, Title VIII concerning the establishment of an appropriate system of records have not been effectively implemented in practice. Against this background, the Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the application in practice of relevant legislation giving effect to this provision of the Convention.

4. Article 5. Medical examinations. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest the further explanations by the Government in response to its previous comments and concerns raised by the CGIL, the CISL and the UIL, that Legislative Decree No. 277/91, article 8 together with Legislative Decree No. 626/94, article 69, paragraph 3, provide that, in all cases where the worker, following a medical examination by a competent doctor, is unfit for a specific position, must be assigned to another equivalent position and where this is not possible, to a lower position (while retaining the same remuneration) and that pursuant to paragraph 3, article 8 of Decree No. 277/91, the maximum time period for a temporary withdrawal of workers is regulated by collective agreement. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the application in practice of this Article of the Convention.

5. Part IV of the report form and Article 6(c). With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided in the study “Estimate of the Number of Workers Exposed to Concern-Causing agents in Italy 1990-1993”, within the framework of the European Study CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure). The CAREX database, constructed with support from the Europe against Cancer programme of the European Union (EU), provides selected exposure data and documented estimates of the number of exposed workers by country, carcinogen, and industry. CAREX includes data on 139 agents evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. According to this study there were in Italy about 4.2 million workers, i.e. 24 per cent of the workforce exposed to the agents included in study, with some 5.5 million exposures and that the most common exposures were environmental tobacco smoke (770,000 exposed workers), solar radiation (550,000), diesel engine exhaust (550,000), asbestos (350,000, wood dust (300,000), crystalline silica (260,000), lead and inorganic compounds (220,000), benzene (180,000), hexavalent chromium and compounds (130,000), and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) (130,000). While noting this information, the Committee again requests the Government to provide further and more recent information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in Italy, including extracts from labour inspection reports and, if such statistics are available, the number of workers covered by the legislation, disaggregated by gender if possible, or other measures taken or envisaged which give effect to the Convention, the number and nature of contraventions reported, the number, nature and cause of the disease, etc.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2007.]