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

Asbestos Convention, 1986 (No. 162) - Zimbabwe (Ratification: 2003)

1. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s first report and the attached legislation. With reference to the observations submitted by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the Government’s reply thereto, the Committee refers to its observation this year under the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155).

2. Articles 3, 11 and 12 of the Convention. National legislation and prohibitions. The Committee notes that the third schedule of the National Social Security Authority (Accident Prevention and Workers’ Compensation Scheme) Notice, the Mining (Management and Safety) Regulations, the Factories and Works Act (General) Regulations and the Pneumoconiosis Act ensure partially the application of the Convention. It notes the Government’s statement that the Convention applies to all activities involving exposure of workers to asbestos but notes that the Government mainly provides information with respect to the application of the Convention to the chrysotile mining industry and chrysotile-cement companies. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that crocidolite and products containing this fibre are prohibited and that there is no work carried out in Zimbabwe involving spraying of asbestos. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the application of the Convention to all activities involving the exposure to asbestos in the course of work, with “the exposure to asbestos” to mean exposure at work to airborne breathable asbestos fibres or asbestos dust, whether originating from asbestos or from minerals, materials or products containing asbestos, in accordance with Article 2(e) of the Convention, and particularly to provide detailed information on the measures taken with respect to demolition of plants or structures under Article 17 of the Convention and the disposal or waste containing asbestos, including the prevention of pollution of the general environment under Article 19, paragraph 2.

3. Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 2, and Article 15. Exposure limits. With reference to the Government’s statement that the exposure limits of chrysotile at the moment is fixed at 1f/ml, the Committee notes that this limit is ten times higher than the current internationally recognized exposure limit of 0.1f/ml. The Committee refers the Government in this respect to the International Chemical Safety Card No. 0014 of March 1999 (available, inter alia, through the ILO web site at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cis/products/icsc/
dtasht/_icsc00/icsc0014.htm). The Committee also notes that the Government’s indication that measures are currently undertaken, in tripartite consultations through the Zimbabwe Occupational Safety and Health Council, with the technical expertise of the National Chrysotile Asbestos Task Force, to lower the exposure limit to 0.5f/ml in 2006. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that the chrysotile asbestos industry has adopted a maximum exposure limit of 0.12f/ml and a maximum exposure limit of 0.5f/ml for the mining sector. While welcoming this development, the Committee hopes that in the very near future the Government will be able to lower the exposure limit for chrysotile asbestos to the internally recognized maximum exposure limit of 0.1f/ml. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the exposure limits adopted and on measures envisaged to ensure not only to periodically review but also to enable the adoption of exposure limits of asbestos in the light of technological progress and advances in technological and scientific knowledge.

4. Articles 6 and 16. Employers’ responsibility to comply with prescribed measures. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional detailed information on the measures taken to ensure employers’ responsibility to comply with prescribed measures, in particular with respect to the following Articles of the Convention:

–           Article 6, paragraph 2, with respect to workplaces where two or more employers undertake activities simultaneously on the measures adopted to ensure that employers cooperate;

–           Article 6, paragraph 3, with respect to emergency situations ensuring that procedures have been adopted for dealing with emergency situations, particularly at shared workplaces;

–           Article 15, paragraph 3, on measures taken to prevent and control the release of asbestos in the air and to reduce the exposure level to as low a level as is reasonably practicable;

–           Article 15, paragraph 4, respecting respiratory equipment shall only be used as a supplementary, temporary, emergency or exceptional measure and not as an alternative to technical control;

–           Articles 15, paragraph 4, and 18 with respect to personal protective equipment that if contaminated, it shall not be worn outside the workplace and is prohibited to take it home, that the employer is responsible for the handling and cleaning of used work clothes and that this is only carried out under controlled conditions, as required by the competent authority, and that the employer also provides facilities for workers to take a bath or shower at the workplace; and

–           Article 19 respecting the disposal of waste containing asbestos that employers ensure that this does not pose a risk to the workers concerned, nor to the population in the vicinity of the enterprise.

5. Article 21. Medical examinations. The Committee notes that the Pneumoconiosis Act provides for medical examinations and the reporting of any occupational disease arising from exposure to chrysotile and the Government’s statement that the chrysotile mining industry and major chrysotile-cement companies have well-established health surveillance programmes. The Committee notes, however, that the Government did not provide information on all parts of this Article and refers in this respect to Paragraph 31, subsection 3, of the Asbestos Recommendation, 1986 (No. 172) which, in addition to medical examination prior to the assignment and periodic medical examinations, provides for suitable medical examination after the suspension of an assignment involving the exposure to asbestos. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on all medical examinations carried out, including pre-employment, during and after the termination of employment, that the examinations are free of charge to the workers and that they, as far as possible, take place during working hours.

6. Article 21, paragraphs 2 and 4. Provision of other means of maintaining income. The Committee notes that the report is silent as regards efforts made to provide workers who are found unfit to continue her/his assignment to work involving exposure to asbestos, with other means of maintaining their income. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information with its next report on measures taken, consistent with national conditions and practice, to provide workers declared medically unfit to continue to work involving exposure to asbestos with other means of maintaining their income.

7. Articles 7 and 20, paragraphs 3 and 4. Workers’ obligations and rights. The Committee notes that the National Social Security Authority (Accident Prevention and Worker’s Compensation Scheme) Notice and the Mining (Management and Safety) Regulations ensure that workers comply with prescribed safety and hygiene procedures. The Committee notes, however, that the Government omitted to provide information regarding measures taken to ensure that workers and/or their representatives have the right to access the employers’ records on the monitoring of the working environment under Article 20, paragraph 3, of the Convention. It also notes that no information was provided regarding workers and/or their representatives’ right to appeal to the competent authority concerning the results of the monitoring (paragraph 4). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to ensure that workers and/or their representatives have access to the employers’ records on the monitoring of the working environment and that they have the right to appeal to the competent authority concerning the results of the monitoring.

8. Article 14. Producers, manufacturers and suppliers. The Committee notes that the Government omitted to provide information with respect to this Article and therefore requests the Government to provide information in its next report on measures taken to ensure that producers, manufacturers and suppliers of products containing asbestos are made responsible for adequate labelling of the container, as prescribed by the competent authority.

9. Part V of the report form. Practical application of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the general appreciation of the application of the Convention, including the number of workers covered, information on labour inspections, including findings of any infringements and actions taken, and statistical information on accidents and illnesses, if possible, disaggregated by gender.