Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

The Committee notes with interest the information supplied by the Government concerning the manner in which the employers' and workers' organisations concerned shall be consulted in conformity with Article 1, paragraph 1, Article 3, paragraph 2, and Article 6 of the Convention. The Government is requested to provide additional information, in its next report, on the following points:

1. The Government has indicated in its report that the following standards ensure the application of Articles 5, 6 and 7 to operations involving the use of white lead, sulphate of lead and products containing these pigments in the external painting of buildings: 19-00-02 (Basic Occupational Health), 19-00-08 (Organisational and Technical Measures in the Workplace), 19-01-02 (Toxic Substances), 19-00-04 (Organisation of the Training of Workers in Occupational Safety and Health) and 19-03-34 (General Safety Requirements concerning White Lead and its Compounds). The Government is requested to provide copies of these standards with its next report.

2. Article 3, paragraph 1. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that, in the interest of equality of opportunity, the legislation which previously provided a list of prohibited employment for women, including painting work involving the use of white lead, was replaced by a list of jobs not recommended for women due to their physical constitution. The Committee, nevertheless, recalls that Article 3 of the Convention provides that the employment of all females shall be prohibited in any painting work of an industrial character involving the use of white lead or sulphate of lead or other products containing these pigments. It would point out that it is possible to ensure equality of opportunity while still ensuring the application of this Article of the Convention by prohibiting all painting work of an industrial character involving the use of white lead. The use of white lead in painting work has already been prohibited by some countries in the interest of safety and health at work and in the environment, as technically superior and safer pigments now exist. The Government is requested to provide information in its next report on the number of women actually employed in painting work involving the use of white lead and to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the employment of women in such work is prohibited, in conformity with this Article of the Convention.

3. Article 7. The Committee notes from the Government's report that it has not been able to collect statistics on the cases of morbidity or mortality due to lead poisoning. It notes that, under section 7.10.1 of the Occupational Hygiene and Safety Standard NC 19-03-34, employers are to notify the State Labour and Social Security Committee (CETSS) of cases or suspected cases of lead poisoning and that, by virtue of section 7.10.2, the CETSS will establish statistics on cases of lead poisoning in working painters. The Government is, therefore, requested to indicate the statistical method adopted in this regard and to supply the statistics obtained in its next report. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the above-mentioned Standard NC 19-03-34 does not apply to painting work on the outside of buildings. The Government is therefore requested to indicate the measures taken to determine statistics as to morbidity or mortality with regard to lead poisoning among all working painters, including those involved in painting operations carried out on the outside of buildings.