Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Asbestos Convention, 1986 (No. 162) - Germany (Ratification: 1993)

Other comments on C162

Observation

2005

Direct Request

2016
2011
2010
1999
1998

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Article 21(4). Provision of other means of maintaining income. The Committee notes with interest the general information provided by the Government that relevant legislation including, in particular, section 3 of the Occupational Illness Ordinance (BKV) is fundamentally preventive in its intentions, that where there is a risk for of contracting an occupational illness, or of a recurrence or deterioration of an existing illness, the accident insurer is required to try to prevent this using all appropriate means, and that, unlike general prevention, the measures implied here are intended to avert a specific risk of illness associated with a particular job. The Government further indicates that for insured persons, there must be a real risk of falling ill and that individual risk to health must be reflected in a prognosis of probable illness if the person concerned continues to work in the activity in question. The Government underscores that this entitlement does not require the occupational illness to have appeared but the aim is to take preventive action as far in advance as possible to avert the risk of future health damage. While efforts should be made to eliminate the danger at issue through technical or organizational means, or indeed through medical treatment, the Government indicates that if the threat to health cannot be eliminated through such measures, the insured persons concerned must be asked to stop the hazardous activity. In such cases and where the workers suffer a loss of income or other economic disadvantages, the workers are entitled to a transition allowance under section 3(2) of the BKV. Depending on the individual case, a lump sum payment may be made of up to a full year’s pension (two-thirds of the previous year’s gross wages), or a regular monthly sum of up to the full pension amount, for no longer than five years. The Government emphasizes that this transition benefit is not compensation for damage suffered to health, as no occupational illness has at this stage appeared, but it is intended to compensate for differentials between the original and the new activity during a transition period than can last several years. The Committee also notes the information provided that, in practice, these provisions are not longer relevant as the production and use of asbestos has been generally prohibited in Germany since 1993 and that there are thus no longer any jobs involving asbestos processing where insured persons could be exposed to asbestos and the associated health risks. Although asbestos fibres still can be released in the course of renovation work or demolition of older buildings, the Government indicates that in these cases effective application of rules regarding protection from asbestos and preventive measures can to a large extent prevent direct contact with asbestos fibres. The Government finally indicates that there is accordingly no statistic of any measures taken under section 3(2) of the BKV. The Committee notes that the referenced information in all cases refers to workers insured under the national insurance system and that the incidence of workers not fully covered national insurance schemes may be significant, particularly in the construction sector. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on how this Article of the Convention is applied in the cases of workers not fully covered by the national health insurance schemes.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the information that inspection reports are not evaluated in relation to specific substances and that statistics on the number of workers still working with asbestos and on the number and type of contraventions of the relevant regulations are therefore not available in Germany. It also notes that the Government indicates that there are many cases of cancers appearing now as a result of earlier exposures to asbestos. In this respect is refers to statistics for the commercial sector in 2009 including reports of 3,736 suspected cases, 1,921 confirmed cases and 108 fatalities of asbestosis; 3736 reports of suspected cases, 686 confirmed cases and 498 fatalities of lung cancer; and 1,386 suspected cases, 970 confirmed cases and 722 fatalities in mesothelioma. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country and attach any available information from inspection reports and, where such statistics exist, information on the number of the workers covered by the legislation, the number and nature of the contraventions reported, the number of occupational diseases reported as being caused by asbestos etc.