Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Asbestos Convention, 1986 (No. 162) - Portugal (Ratification: 1999)

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

Article 1(1) of the Convention. Exposure to asbestos at work. Communication from the General Union of Workers (UGT). The Committee notes that, according to the UGT, Recommendation No. 24/2003 of the Assembly of the Republic provides for the compilation of a list of public buildings which contain asbestos, with a view to its replacement and that the Government has not yet implemented this recommendation. The Government indicates however, that the compilation of such a list is provided for in the National Occupational Safety and Health Strategy for 2008–10. While welcoming the fact that the strategy incorporates this issue, the Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all activities involving exposure of workers to asbestos in the course of work. According to the information in the Committee’s possession, the situation mentioned by the UGT does not appear to come under this definition and would therefore not be covered by the Convention.

Articles 1, 2 and 15(2). Exposure to asbestos at work. With reference to Legislative Decree No. 266/2007 mentioned in its observation, the Committee notes that, even though the Decree applies to all activities or operations in which workers are exposed or are likely to be exposed to asbestos, section 23 appears to suggest that there is the possibility of certain provisions of the Decree not being applied to workers who are exposed occasionally to a low concentration of asbestos. The Committee recalls that, under Article 1, the Convention applies to all activities involving exposure of workers to asbestos in the course of work. Exposure to asbestos is defined in Article 2(e) as “exposure at work to airborne, respirable asbestos fibres or asbestos dust, whether originating from asbestos or from minerals, materials or products containing asbestos”. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply detailed information on the manner in which it ensures, in law and in practice, the full application of the Convention in the context of work involving occasional low-intensity exposure, as defined in section 23 of Legislative Decree No. 266/2007 and, in particular, with regard to Articles 1, 2, 8, 15(3), 20 and 21 of the Convention.

Article 6(3). Consultation with the health services in preparing emergency procedures. Article 14. Responsibility of manufacturers for the labelling of products containing asbestos. Article 22(3). Training. The Committee notes that the Government has not supplied the information requested in its previous direct request. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of these provisions, in law and in practice.

Article 21(4). Maintaining the income of workers assigned to other work for medical reasons. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken to maintain the income of workers for whom exposure to asbestos is found to be medically inadvisable.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the application of the Convention in practice in the country, attaching extracts from inspection reports and, where such statistics exist, information on the number of workers covered by the legislation, the number and nature of infringements reported, the number of occupational diseases reported as being caused by asbestos, etc.