Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Benzene Convention, 1971 (No. 136) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes with interest the information provided in the Government's latest report and the adoption of the Ministerial Resolution on Occupational Safety and Health, 1993. The Government has indicated that this Resolution will provide a legal framework within which other specific aspects of occupational safety and health can be regulated and recalls that section 3, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Resolution calls upon the Minister of Labour to determine minimum occupational safety and health requirements for, among others, chemical, physical and biological risks.

The Committee would recall that, since its ratification, no provisions have existed to give effect to the Convention. In its report for 1987, the Government had declared that special inquiries were being carried out with a view to adopting safety measures specifically for the prevention of risks of intoxication by benzene. The Committee hopes, therefore, that the specific measures necessary to the application of the Convention will be taken in the very near future, in accordance with Article 14 of the Convention.

The Committee once again expresses the hope that the Government will be able to indicate in its next report that measures have been taken to ensure, in particular, the application of the following Articles of the Convention: Article 2 (the substitution of harmless or less harmful products to replace benzene or products containing benzene), Article 4 (the prohibition of the use of benzene and of products containing benzene in certain work processes, including its use as a solvent or diluent, except where the process is carried out in an enclosed system or where there are other equally safe methods of work), Article 6 (concentration of benzene in the air not to exceed 25 parts per million (80 mg/m3)), Article 8 (the provision of adequate means of personal protection and the limitation of duration of exposure to levels of benzene which exceed the maximum limit), Articles 9 and 10 (pre-employment and periodic medical examinations), and Article 11 (the prohibition of employment of pregnant and nursing women, as well as young persons under 18 years of age in work processes involving exposure to benzene).