Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its latest report, which indicates that no special measures have been undertaken for securing the use of harmless or less harmful substitute products instead of benzene or products containing benzene. The Committee further notes that the report does not provide any responses on the application of the Convention in the Republic of Srpska and in the Brcko District, and that the Government has at times indicated varied application in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In light of this, effect does not appear to have been given to a number of provisions of the Convention across all three entities. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific provisions in law, concerning exposure to benzene and products containing benzene, which give effect to each requirement of the Convention across all three entities. Referring also to its comments under the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), the Committee hopes that the Government will seek technical assistance from the Office for the development of legislation giving effect to the provisions of the Conventions ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina, and regarding the reporting obligations associated with such ratifications.

Part IV of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes that the Government has referred to attached reports from the Federal Administration for Inspection of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that, while these reports give an interesting overview of labour inspection in this entity, they do not provide specific information on the application of this Convention in practice across all three entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika of Srpska and the Brcko District. The Committee asks the Government to give a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country, and in each of the three entities, and to provide, where such statistics exist, information on the number of workers covered by the legislation, the number and nature of the contraventions reported, and the number, nature and cause of accidents and occupational diseases reported.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2012.]