Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

White Lead (Painting) Convention, 1921 (No. 13) - Benin (Ratification: 1960)

1. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report. The Committee notes with interest the measures taken by the Government to give effect to the occupational safety and health regulations, including the development of human resources and of research and management in the field of occupational safety and health. The Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the following points.

2. Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee notes that the services of the Ministry of the Public Service, Labour and Administrative Reform and of the National Social Security Fund ensure the monitoring and surveillance of any cases of the recruitment of women in painting work of an industrial character. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication in its report of the possibility of amending Inter-Ministerial Order No. 132/
MFPTRA/MSP to include painting work of an industrial character among the activities prohibited for women. The Committee encourages the amendment of the Inter-Ministerial Order and requests the Government to provide it with a copy of the Order, as amended.

3. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication in its report of its intention of including the employment of children in painting work, particularly the operations of scraping off and sanding old buildings, in the national list of the worst forms of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide it with a copy of the national list of the worst forms of child labour when it has been supplemented.

4. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing it with statistics on morbidity and mortality among working painters.