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

Asbestos Convention, 1986 (No. 162) - Cyprus (Ratification: 1992)

1. Further to its observation, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the following points.

2. Article 3 of the Convention. National legislation. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it is currently revising the legislation applicable to asbestos and will in the close future adopt the Asbestos Regulations (the Health and Safety at Work (Protection from Asbestos) Regulations), to be issued under the Health and Safety at Work Law. The Committee hopes that these regulations will be adopted in the close future and that it will fully implement all Articles of the Convention and asks the Government to provide a copy of them, once adopted.

3. Article 21, paragraph 4. Provision of other means of maintaining income. The Committee notes with concern that in reply to its previous comments on this issue, the Government indicates that no specific measures are provided for cases where the continuation of work involving exposure to asbestos is medically inadvisable in the Asbestos Law and Regulations. The Committee notes, however, that the Government reports that in cases of workers being unable to pursue their work as a result of exposure to other dangerous agents, efforts are made, through consultations with employers’ and the workers’ representatives, to find alternative employment and, if required, workers’ income is maintained through social security. Against this background, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on efforts made, consistent with national conditions and practice, to ensure that workers declared medically unfit due to exposure to asbestos are provided with alternative employment or with other means to maintain their income.

4. Part V of the report form. Practical application of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to provide a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country and to attach extracts from the reports of the inspection services, information on the number of workers covered by the legislation, disaggregated by gender, if possible, the number and nature of the contraventions reported and the resulting action taken, and the number of occupational accidents and diseases reported.