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Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention (Revised), 1934 (No. 42) - French Polynesia

Article 2 of the Convention. Diseases considered to be occupational diseases. The Committee notes that, following the adoption of the new Labour Code, issued by territorial Act No. 2001-15 of 4 May 2011 and Order No. 925 CM of 8 July 2011 respecting the codification of labour law, the schedules establishing the list of occupational diseases are henceforth annexed to the Labour Code in relation to section A4161-1, but have not been amended in any way.

The Committee recalls that for many years it has been requesting the Government to take specific measures to: (a) ensure that the pathological manifestations listed under each of the diseases included in the schedules of the national legislation are not restrictive; (b) remedy the absence in these schedules of an item covering, in general terms, as in the Convention, poisoning by the halogen derivatives of hydrocarbons of the aliphatic series and all phosphorous compounds (Schedule No. 12); and (c) include, among the types of work likely to cause primary epitheliomatous cancer of the skin, any processes involving the handling of the products mentioned in the Convention (Schedules Nos 16bis, 20 and 36bis).

With regard to point (a), the Government confirms that the enumeration of the symptoms or pathological manifestations which have to be present and which appear in the left-hand column of the schedules remains limitative. The list of types of work liable to cause the disease indicated in the right-hand column of the schedules are also limitative, and only workers engaged in the types of work enumerated are entitled to compensation under these occupational diseases.

With regard to points (b) and (c), the Government explains that the regulations provide that the schedules shall be established and amended by order, after obtaining the opinion of the Technical Advisory Committee (CTC), at the joint proposal of the Director of Labour and the Director of Health, and that the amendments requested for Schedules Nos 12, 16bis, 20 and 36bis could be examined at a future CTC meeting. The Committee trusts that, with a view to ensuring the full conformity of the national legislation with the Convention on points (a), (b) and (c) referred to above, the Government of French Polynesia will make every effort to persuade the Director of Labour and the Director of Health to submit to the CTC a joint proposal to make the amendments to the schedules setting out the list of occupational diseases as requested by the Committee for over 20 years. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep the Office informed of the opinion issued by the CTC, and the action taken on this proposal.

Supplementary procedure for the recognition of occupational diseases. The Committee recalls that in its previous observation it requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken in the field of the recording and recognition of occupational diseases with a view to optimizing the functioning of these procedures and enabling requests for recognition lodged with the social welfare fund to be examined promptly. In this respect, the Government indicates that, with a view to assisting occupational medical practitioners who have little knowledge of the cases likely to lead to the recognition of occupational diseases, a position of medical labour inspector was to be validated in the community budget at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. Furthermore, the country could base itself on the system established by the social security system with the establishment of a committee for the recognition of occupational diseases, consisting of a medical labour inspector, the chief medical adviser for the social security scheme and a qualified medical practitioner. If this approach to supplementary recognition is approved, the social welfare fund would have to make a prior study of their impact in terms of administration and financing. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether it is envisaging the possibility of establishing a supplementary system for the recognition of occupational diseases and, if so, to provide information on the measures taken in this respect.

The Committee considers that, in light of the limitative nature of the schedules of occupational diseases, the establishment of a supplementary procedure for the recognition of occupational disease could undoubtedly ensure a better application of the Convention and broaden the social protection of workers against risks of occupational disease.