Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) - Spain (Ratification: 1985)

1. The Committee notes the comments made by the Workers' Labour Union (USO) - regional union of Gijón concerning the hazard which may affect female workers and their families, from a contract firm in the cleaning service of the General Hospital of Asturias since they are obliged to wash their work clothes at home, in contrast to national health institute staff whose clothes are laundered at the workplace. The trade union organization indicates that the hygiene measures required by the Community Standard regarding all staff of the regional hospital centre are not applied to cleaning workers. It expresses its disagreement with the report issued by the Provincial Technical Office of Asturias which states that the hygiene working conditions of the staff who clean the rooms and other premises in the General Hospital of Asturias are satisfactory, and that the workers receive a gown, masks and disposable gloves as working clothes. The report concludes also that the risk of contagion from certain diseases carried on working clothes is remote.

The Committee notes that the Government refers to section 138 of the General Ordinance on Safety and Hygiene at Work which does not allow working clothes for workers exposed to toxic, irritant or infectious substances to be taken away from the factory. It also refers to the opinion of the Service for Preventive Medicine of the General Hospital which considers it unnecessary for work clothes of cleaning staff to be dealt with at the hospital laundry and states that they can be washed at laundries of any type or at domestic level. At the same time, the Government considers it appropriate to request that in the event of obvious contamination of cleaning staff's work clothes, they should be immediately decontaminated or destroyed.

The Committee recalls that, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Convention, this international instrument applies to all workers in the branches of economic activity covered and that, under Article 4, paragraph 2, the aim of the coherent national policy on occupational health and safety shall be to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of work. The Committee hopes that effective measures will be adopted for the purpose of preventing contamination of the cleaning staff and requests the Government to supply information on any progress made in this matter.

2. With reference to the previous observation, the Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 31/1995 of 8 November on Prevention of Occupational Risks. The Committee will examine this text at a coming session.

3. The Committee has raised other points in a direct request sent to the Government in 1994.