Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

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

Article 3 of the Convention. National legislation. The Committee notes the adoption of the Safety and Health at Work (Protection from Asbestos) (Amendment) Regulations of 2015 (P.I. 46/2015) which, according to the Government’s report, do not provide for any derogations.

Article 21(4). Provision of other means of maintaining the income of workers. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the effect given to Article 21(4) of the Convention on the provision of other means of maintaining the income of workers. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any further developments in this regard.

Application in practice. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that 345 inspections have been conducted in workplaces where asbestos works are carried out and that the number of workers exposed to asbestos is still estimated at less than 200, mainly male workers. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that contraventions are very limited in number and are not of a serious nature due to the fact that the Department of Labour Inspection approves in advance action plans on asbestos works which must submitted by employers. According to the statistics compiled by the Cancer Registry of the Ministry of Health and the Oncology Centre of the Bank of Cyprus, 61 cases of mesothelioma were recorded between 2010 and 2015. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on labour inspection activities, including the approval of action plans on asbestos works, inspection visits conducted and the results thereof, the number and nature of the contraventions reported and on the number and nature of cases of occupational disease reported as being caused by asbestos.