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

Benzene Convention, 1971 (No. 136) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report. Its notes in particular the information on the application of Articles 9, 10 and 11, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

1. Article 14, paragraph (a), of the Convention. Obligation to take, by laws or regulations or any other method consistent with national practice and conditions, such steps as may be necessary to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that no information is included in the Government’s report on the adoption of regulations on benzene in accordance with Article 14. In its report, the Government confines itself to acknowledging that the adoption of regulations on benzene would make it possible to give full effect to the provisions of the Convention and it expresses the hope that this obligation will be fulfilled in future. The Committee recalls that there have been no specific legislative provisions since the ratification of the Convention to give effect to its requirements and it requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the progress achieved in this respect.

2. Article 2. Use of harmless or less harmful substitute products instead of benzene or products containing benzene. Noting once again the Government’s acknowledgement in its report of the need to adopt regulations on benzene to give effect to this provision, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures that have been adopted to ensure that, whenever they are available, harmless or less harmful substitute products are used instead of benzene or products containing benzene.

3. Article 4. Prohibition of the use of benzene and of products containing benzene in certain work processes, including its use as a solvent or diluent. As the Government’s report does not contain any information in response to its previous comments, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the national laws or regulations which specify the work processes in which the use of benzene and of products containing benzene is prohibited.

4. Article 6. Maximum concentration of benzene in the air in places of employment which shall not exceed a maximum ceiling value of 25 parts per million (u 80 mg/m3). The Committee notes that the General Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health has an environmental measurement laboratory which detects the presence of benzene and its derivatives from samples taken at the workplace. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the text determining the maximum concentration level and the necessary measures to ensure that the concentration of benzene in the air of places of employment does not exceed this ceiling value.

5. Article 8. Provision of adequate means of personal protection and limitation of the duration of exposure to concentrations of benzene which exceed the maximum limit. The Committee notes the Government’s reference in its report to the laws and regulations of a general nature containing provisions on the obligation of employers to provide free of charge and of workers to use personal protective equipment in workplaces where risks are inevitable or cannot be limited. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the laws or regulations which established the obligation of the employer to limit the exposure of workers to concentrations of benzene which exceed the maximum level and to provide adequate means of personal protection.

6. Article 11, paragraph 1. Prohibition of the employment of pregnant women and nursing mothers in work processes involving exposure to benzene. The Committee notes the Government’s reference in its report to section 140 of the Labour Code, which provides that “the continued employment of a woman who is pregnant in work or tasks that are prejudicial to her condition shall be prohibited”. Noting that this provision is of too general a nature and that, to give full effect to this Article, it needs to be specified by another provision, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures adopted to prohibit the employment of pregnant women and nursing mothers in work processes involving exposure to benzene.

7. Part IV of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied, as well as summaries of inspection reports, statistical information, including data on the number of workers covered, disaggregated by gender if possible, and the number and nature of contraventions reported.