Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148) - El Salvador (Ratification: 2022)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report.

Articles 4(1) and 5(1) and (2) of the Convention. National laws or regulations. Consultation with the social partners. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s indications, effect is given to the Convention through the General Act on the prevention of risks at the workplace of 2010 and its Regulations, which include the General Regulations for the prevention of risks at the workplace (the General Regulations) and the Regulations on the management of risk prevention at the workplace (the Management Regulations), adopted in 2012. In this regard, the Committee considers it appropriate to recall that, in previous comments on the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), it noted that: (i) the National Occupational Safety and Health Board (CONASSO) is the tripartite social dialogue body for the prevention of occupational risks and that it has not been active since 2013; (ii) nevertheless, consultations had previously been held (in 2011 and 2012) in the CONASSO on various draft regulations to the Act and its entry into force; and (iii) in a recent proposal for a national policy prepared by the Government, with ILO technical assistance and in consultation with various economic sectors and public sector unions, the reactivation of the CONASSO is envisaged. With reference to the latter point, the Committee requests the Government to refer to the observations that it is making on the application of Articles 4 and 8 of Convention No. 155 (formulation, implementation and periodic review of the national policy in consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers).

Article 8. Exposure limits to air pollution, noise and vibration. Supplementing and revising such limits regularly. The Committee notes that the General Regulations provide for: (i) maximum exposure limits for vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm and the entire body, including those applicable in the event of exposure to various types of vibration accelerations (sections 169 to 171 and 173 to 175); (ii) the permissible exposure limits to various types of noise, including those applicable in the event of exposure to various levels of sound pressure (sections 154 to 157 and 159 to 161); and (iii) different permitted limits for exposure to environmental concentrations of chemical contaminants and substances capable of causing narcotic, caustic or toxic effects at the workplace, with the establishment of special limits in the event of an increase in the environmental concentration of those substances and simultaneous exposure to several of them (sections 181 to 187 and 190). Having taken due note of this information, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the competent authority has established other criteria and exposure limits to air pollution, noise and vibration that are distinct from those applicable to the chemicals and chemical products referred to in the above provisions of the General Regulations. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the procedures that exist with a view to supplementing and revising regularly the criteria and exposure limits to air pollution, noise and vibration in the working environment that are currently set out in the General Regulations in the light of new national and international knowledge and data.

Article 11(1) and (2). Supervision of the health of workers free of cost. Pre-assignment and periodical medical examinations. The Committee notes that, read in conjunction, section 8(6) of the Act and section 52 of the Management Regulations provide that it is the responsibility of the employer to develop and implement a programme for the management of occupational risk prevention in the enterprise, which shall include, among other basic elements, the establishment of a programme of medical examinations, which shall be based on the risk identification and assessment carried out by the employer, and specify the intervals at which supervision shall be carried out. The Committee also notes that section 63 of the Act provides that where, in the opinion of the General Directorate of Social Welfare, the nature of the activity implies some risk to the health, life and safety of workers, the employer is required to carry out medical and laboratory tests of the workers and that such examinations shall in no event involve an economic cost to the worker. The Committee further notes that section 163(4) to (8) of the General Regulations provides that the employer shall carry out tests of the auditory function of workers in the event of their exposure to noise prior to their assignment, regularly during employment and also when they retire. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the nature and intervals at which medical examinations are carried out by employers within the framework of occupational risk prevention management programmes with a view to supervising the health of workers exposed to occupational risks due specifically to air pollution and vibration, under the terms of section 8(6) of the Act and section 52 of the Management Regulations, with an indication of who is required to cover the costs of such examinations; and (ii) the effect given in practice to section 63 of the Act, including information on the nature and, where appropriate, intervals at which medical examinations must be carried out for workers exposed to air pollution, noise and vibration when so requested by the General Directorate of Social Welfare, with an indication of the occasions on which such requests are made. The Committee also requests the Government to specify whether the tests of the auditory function in the event of exposure to noise envisaged in section 163(4) to (8) of the General Regulations shall be carried out without any cost to the workers concerned.