Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Benzene Convention, 1971 (No. 136) - India (Ratification: 1991)

Other comments on C136

Direct Request

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Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. Further to its previous comment on the effect given to Article 1 of the Convention, the Committee notes from the Government’s report the updated information on the notifications by states and union territories under section 85 of the Factories Act, 1948, required in order to make the Act applicable to factories handling benzene. The Committee notes with interest that notifications appear to have now been issued by most of the states and union territories which have manufacturing units of benzene. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the states and union territories which have issued such a notification under section 85 of the Factories Act, 1948.

Article 10. Provision of free medical examinations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in the state of Rajasthan, the costs of medical examinations borne by the occupier are not transferred to the workers. Concerning the information requested by the Committee on measures taken in the state of Uttar Pradesh ensuring that workers in factories of less than five employees are provided with free medical examinations, the Government indicates that information is currently being sought from the Chief Inspector of Factories. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken in the state of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that all workers employed in factories using benzene are provided with free medical examinations, irrespective of the number of employees in the factory.

Application in practice. The Committee takes note of the detailed statistical information provided by the Government concerning the number of registered factories by state or union territory and the number of workers employed in these factories, broken down by gender, for 2012. It also notes that in 2013, factory inspectors conducted 127,555 inspection visits, of which 14,072 concerned hazardous factories. It further takes note of the statistics concerning legal proceedings initiated and the penalties applied for the year 2012. The Committee encourages the Government to provide more specific information in relation to the application of the Convention in practice, including statistics on the number of workers covered by the relevant legislation, the number and nature of contraventions reported, the number and nature of cases of occupational disease and the number of cases of poisoning reported.