Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139) - Peru (Ratification: 1976)

1. Further to its observation, the Committee notes that a draft General Labour Act has been formulated containing a section on occupational safety and health, which has been sent to the Office with a view to receiving comments on the text.

2. Article 2 of the Convention. Replacement of carcinogenic substances and agents by non-carcinogenic substances or agents or by less harmful substances or agents. The Committee notes that section 8 of the Regulations on the permissible limits for chemical agents in the working environment establishes measures to prevent risks, guarantee the protection of workers’ health and undertake controls of the environment at workplaces. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether one of the measures taken includes the replacement required by this Article of the Convention and to indicate the provisions which provide the legislative basis for such replacement.

3. Article 5. Medical examinations. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the Regulations on safety and health in mining, Supreme Decree No. 046-2001-EM, section 24(n), which establishes the obligation to introduce and ensure that all workers undergo pre-employment, annual and retirement medical examinations. It also notes that the draft Regulations on occupational safety and health also establish the same obligation. Recalling that, in accordance with this Article of the Convention, measures have to be taken to ensure that workers are provided with such medical examinations or biological or other tests or investigations during the period of employment and thereafter as are necessary to evaluate their exposure and supervise their state of health in relation to occupational hazards, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the text referred to establishes the obligation to carry out the medical examinations provided for in this Article and requests the Government to provide a copy of the text with its next report when it has been adopted.

4. Article 6(c) and Part IV of the report form. Activities of the inspection services for the purpose of supervising the application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that the National Health Institute, through the Centre for Occupational Health and Protection of the Environment for Health, undertakes advisory missions, courses, workshops and assessments of occupational health, based on the method of recognition, assessment and control, both in medical evaluations and in evaluation studies in work centres, on the basis of which preventive occupational safety, health and hygiene measures are identified that are to be adopted in work centres. It also notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion is currently undertaking general occupational safety and health inspections, but does not carry out specific inspections to give effect to the precise requirements of the Convention. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that appropriate inspection services are provided with a view to giving full effect to the provisions of the Convention and requests it to provide information on any progress achieved in this respect.