Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121) - Chile (Ratification: 1999)

Referring to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in respect of Article 3 of the Convention (Coverage of seafarers and civil servants) and Article 24 (Participation of representatives of the insured persons in the management of employment injury insurance).

Article 14(3). Level of periodical payments in case of permanent partial invalidity. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments regarding the rate of partial disability pensions as opposed to that of total disability pensions, the Government indicates that the mandate for assessing and revising permanent incapacity belongs to specialized medical bodies (preventive and disability medical commissions – COMPIN – and mutualities of employers) following a pre-established scale contained in existing legal provisions, also taking into account other factors such as age, gender and the usual profession of the victim. In accordance with section 29 of Supreme Decree No. 109 of 1968, as amended, which contains the rules on the determination and assessment of industrial accidents and occupational diseases, the scale for assessing the loss of earning capacity is graduated 2.5 by 2.5 percentage points below 40 per cent incapacity and 5 by 5 percentage points above this level. The medical authorities determining the disability rates have nonetheless a large degree of flexibility in determining the incapacity rate which, in extreme cases, could be established 25 points higher than the strict clinical criteria. The Committee notes the flexibility allowed in assessing the rate of incapacity by taking into account other weighting factors. The Committee would like the Government to monitor the disability assessment processes by comparing data regarding the number of total and partial disability pensions granted with the corresponding rates of disability in the context of the COMPIN or the mutualities of employers. Please supply this data for the period covered by the next detailed report.

Article 14(4). Permanent partial loss of earning capacity which is not substantial. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government confirms that the types of disabilities causing 15 to 39 per cent loss of earning capacity are not substantial compared to the disabilities of 40 per cent and above. In accordance with section 35 of Act No. 16.744 of 1968 as amended, in case of loss of earning capacity of 15 to 39 per cent, the victim of employment injury receives a global compensation in the form of a lump sum which may not exceed 15 months of the base salary. The Committee requests the Government to supply statistical data on the number of cases in which lump-sum payments have been made and their amounts.

Article 26. Prevention and rehabilitation measures. Please indicate whether the Social Security Superintendence has issued the regulations implementing the duty of employers to immediately report fatal and serious occupational accidents to the labour inspection services and regional secretariats of the Ministry of Health, established by Act No. 20.123, modifying section 76 of Act 16.744.

Follow-up to the comments made in 2006 and 2007 by the Autonomous Confederation of Workers of Chile (CAT), the Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in respect of workers of the enterprise CODELCO-Chile – División Andina who have suffered total or partial work incapacity due to silicosis. In the absence of any indications from its report, the Committee asks the Government to explain whether preventive and remedial measures have been carried out in each worksite by the various regional health ministry secretariats and by the labour inspection services and what rehabilitation measures have been taken by the insurance management bodies governed by Act No. 16.744 as well as by the FONADIS programme for rehabilitation and training.