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Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170) - Italy (RATIFICATION: 2002)

Legislation. The Committee notes that the Government has provided very comprehensive information on the legislation giving effect to the Convention. It notes in particular that Legislative Decree No. 81 of 9 April 2008, the single text on the protection of health and safety at work (TULS), has repealed Decree No. 547/1955 on the prevention of accidents and occupational diseases, Decree No. 303/956 issuing general occupational health and safety standards, Decree No. 277/1991 on the protection of workers from the risk of exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents, and Legislative Decree No. 626/1994 on the improvement of occupational safety and health conditions. The Government also states that sections 221–232 and appendices XXXVIII, XXXIX, XL and XLI of the TULS give effect to the Convention.

Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention. Bodies and procedures for tripartite consultation and periodic review of the national policy. While noting the information supplied by the Government, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on how the periodic review process is conducted and how often it takes place, and on consultations actually held during the period covered by the Government’s report.

Articles 6, 7 and 8. Classification system, labelling and marking and chemical safety data sheets. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 (REACH) entered into force in June 2007. The Government indicates that Act No. 746 of 6 April 2007 and the Ministerial Decree of 22 November 2007 set out in detail the distribution of functions for the implementation of the REACH Regulation. On 20 January 2009, Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 (CLP) entered into force, introducing new rules on the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals. In this regard, the Government provides a detailed list of the provisions adopted to implement this Regulation. The Committee also notes the information concerning the effect given to the following Articles: Article 6(4) (classification systems and their application to be progressively extended); Article 8(3) (safety data sheets and labels); Article 9(2) and (3) (labelling responsibilities of suppliers); Article 10(3) and (4) (labelling responsibilities of employers); Article 13(1)(a) and (c) (specific provisions governing operational control); and Article 14 (specific provisions on waste disposal).

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that the new schedule of occupational diseases, which took effect on 22 July 2008 and is based on a classification of pathologies rather than pathogenic agents with some pathologies benefiting from a presumption of causal link, appears to have led to an increase of diseases in the statistics. The Committee notes that the Government has not replied to some of the questions the Committee raised on this subject. The Committee again asks the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice and to provide extracts of inspection reports, statistics of the number of workers covered by the Convention, disaggregated by sex, if possible. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on trends detected regarding diseases linked to the products covered by this Convention.