Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139) - Iraq (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes the effort made by the Government to fulfil its constitutional obligations by submitting a report on the application of this ratified Convention. The Committee notes, however, that this report does not contain any new information on the matters raised since 1997 concerning the application of the Convention. It also notes that the Government is in the process of amending its Labour Code, that technical assistance has been received from the ILO in this respect and that the amended text is being finalized. The Committee expresses the hope that the amended Labour Code, as well as any relevant implementing legislation, will be adopted in the near future and that the new legislative measures taken will provide an adequate response to the following previous comments of the Committee which in relevant parts read as follows:

Article 3 of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken to establish an appropriate system of records in respect of workers exposed to carcinogenic substances. In its 1993 report, the Government has referred to the medical examinations provided to workers and the registers kept at the Centre for Statistics of the Ministry of Health of the number of cases of cancer, including occupational cancer. The Committee would, however, once again refer the Government to Chapter 8 of the ILO: Occupational Health Series, No. 39 on Occupational Cancer: Prevention and Control (Second (revised) edition), 1988, concerning the establishment of registers. Such registers are intended to record not only information with respect to workers with occupational cancer, but also more generally the names of persons exposed to carcinogenic substances, the results of technical monitoring, special medical examinations and laboratory tests performed, regardless of their state of health, so that the competent authority and others concerned may have sufficient comparative data “to keep a close watch on the magnitude of the problem of occupational cancer in the country, the level of risk involved in the various types of exposure, the dose-response relationship and the effectiveness of preventive action”. The Committee, therefore, hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures in the near future to establish an appropriate system of records, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, and requests the Government to indicate, in its next report the progress made in this regard.

Article 5. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report concerning pre-assignment and periodical medical examinations for workers exposed to carcinogenic substances. The Committee once again recalls that this Article of the Convention provides that workers shall be provided with medical examinations or biological tests, not only during the period of employment, but also after the worker is no longer exposed to carcinogenic substances in order to evaluate any changes which might occur in his or her state of health as a result of the prior exposure. The Committee requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, the measures taken or envisaged to provide medical examinations or other tests to workers after their period of employment as is necessary to evaluate their exposure and supervise their state of health in relation to occupational hazards.

Part IV of the report form. For a number of years, the Committee has requested the Government to provide the information requested under Part IV of the report form concerning the practical application of the Convention and, in particular, to provide relevant extracts from inspection reports and any statistics available on the number of workers covered by the legislation or other measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of contraventions reported, the number, nature and cause of cases of disease, etc. In its report, the Government has indicated that inspection committees monitor the application of the Convention and that the National Centre for Occupational Safety and Health periodically reviews the chemical substances in use. The Government is once again requested to provide, with its next report, extracts from inspection reports relevant to the measures taken for the application of the Convention, as well as any statistics on the numbers of workers covered by these measures, the number and nature of contraventions and the number and nature of diseases relating to exposure to carcinogenic substances.