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

Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention (Revised), 1934 (No. 42) - Argentina (Ratification: 1950)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. It also notes the new Act No. 24028 of 5 December 1991, which repeals Act No. 9688 of 1915, as amended, as well as Decree No. 1792 of 1992, which issues regulations under Act No. 24028.

Furthermore, the Committee notes the communication concerning the application of this Convention from the Congress of Argentinian Workers (CTA), dated 7 June 1993, a copy of which was forwarded to the Government for its observations on 29 June 1993. The CTA alleges in particular that Act No. 24028 respecting the compensation of industrial injuries substantially decreases the level of protection provided for workers. CTA states that the responsibility of the employer is presumed only in the case of an industrial accident, but that there is no legal assumption of the responsibility of the employer when an injury results from a disease the origin or aggravation of which is attributable to work; in such cases, the victim has to prove the harmful agent, the disabling sequelae, the causal link and the existence of the fault on the part of the employer.

The Committee notes that the Government's report does not contain a reply to the CTA's communication. However, it notes that although, by virtue of section 2(2) of Act No. 24028 of 1991, the employer's responsibility is presumed in the event of an industrial accident, this provision explicitly provides that the responsibility of the employer shall not be presumed with regard to diseases the origin or aggravation of which are attributable to work. The Committee wishes to recall in this respect that by ratifying the Convention the Government undertook, in accordance with Article 2, to consider as occupational diseases those diseases and poisonings produced by the substances set forth in the Schedule appended to the Convention, when such diseases or such poisonings affect workers engaged in the trades, industries or processes placed opposite in the said Schedule. It is precisely in order to avoid the worker having to prove the occupational origin of the disease, which can be particularly difficult in certain circumstances, that the Convention established this system of a double list setting out the diseases and the activities which may cause them. The Committee also recalls that Decree No. 4389/73 of 1973, issued under Act No. 9688 of 11 June 1915, which has now been repealed, had been adopted to respond to this requirement of the Convention.

In these conditions, the Committee hopes that the Government's next report will contain detailed information in reply to the communication from the Congress of Argentinian Workers, and that it will indicate the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to give full effect to the Convention.

[The Government is asked to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1994.]