Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139) - Peru (Ratification: 1976)

1. The Committee notes from the Government's report that a working group made up of the Ministers of Labour, Health and the Peruvian Institute of Social Security is to be established in order to draft a decree to incorporate cancer within the scope of the regulations to the Act on occupational accidents and diseases (D.L. 18846). The Committee hopes that the most representative organisations of employers and workers concerned will be consulted in conformity with Article 6 of the Convention and that the Government will provide a copy of the text when adopted.

2. The Committee recalls that special measures for the prevention and control of occupational cancer must be taken in order to ensure application of the provisions of the Convention. They should provide, among other things, for (a) the replacement of carcinogenic substances and agents by less harmful substances or agents and the reduction to the minimum, of the number of workers exposed and the duration and degree of exposure (Article 2); (b) the obligation to protect workers against the risks of exposure by collecting the necessary data and informing the persons concerned accordingly (Articles 3 and 4); and (c) the obligation to submit workers exposed to this risk to medical examinations or biological or other tests, during and after their employment, with a view to evaluating their exposure and protecting their health (Article 5).

The Committee again expresses the hope that the Government will not fail to take the measures called for by the Convention and that in its next report it will indicate the progress made in this connection. Please also supply information on the practical application of the Convention mentioned in Point V of the report form adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO.