Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report. In its previous comments the Committee noted the adoption of the Ministerial Resolution on Occupational Safety and Health, 1993, providing a framework within which specific aspects of occupational safety and health can be regulated. Section 3 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. Recalling that since the ratification of the Convention no specific provisions have been adopted to give effect to the Convention, the Committee expresses once again the hope that the necessary steps will be taken in the very near future, in consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers concerned, as called for by Article 6 (a) of the Convention, to ensure that effect is given to the following provisions of the Convention: Article 1 (periodical determination of carcinogenic substances and agents to which occupational exposure is prohibited or made subject to authorization or control); Article 2 (replacement of carcinogenic substances and agents by others less harmful and reduction of the duration and degree of exposure and the number of workers concerned); Article 3 (special measures of protection against the risks of exposure and establishment of a system of records); Article 5 (medical or biological examinations of workers concerned during the period of exposure and thereafter, as necessary).

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 1999.]