Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

White Lead (Painting) Convention, 1921 (No. 13) - Iraq (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

In its previous comments, the Committee noted the indication in the Government's report that no statistics concerning lead poisoning among working painters were available. The Committee recalled that Article 7 of the Convention provides that statistics as to morbidity and mortality with regard to lead poisoning among working painters shall be obtained. It noted that section 8(a) of the Instructions for the Prevention of Lead Poisoning among Painting Workers provides that cases of lead poisoning shall be reported and statistics kept and that, under section 9, the Department of Occupational Health and Safety in the Ministry of Labour is responsible for supervising the implementation of the Instructions. In its latest report, the Government has indicated that the Ministry of Health is the competent authority responsible for keeping statistics concerning morbidity and mortality due to lead poisoning, but that, at present, no such statistics are available. The Government is once again requested to indicate, in its next report, the statistical methods adopted with respect to morbidity and mortality due to lead poisoning and any steps taken to ensure that such statistics are collected, in conformity with Article 7 of the Convention. The Government is also requested to provide any statistics on morbidity and mortality due to lead poisoning which might be available.