Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1978)

1. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of the Regulations concerning the safety and health of workers and the improvement of the working environment (Executive Decree No. 2393 of 13 November 1986). It notes that section 2 of these Regulations provide for the creation of a tripartite Inter-Institutional Committee on Occupational Safety and Health which is empowered to amend the present regulations, set standards necessary for their implementation and draw up special regulations concerning risk prevention for certain dangerous activities. The Government is requested to provide full particulars in its next report on the functioning and activities of the Inter-Institutional Committee on Occupational Safety and Health.

2. The Government is requested to provide further clarification on the following points:

Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention. The Government is requested to indicate the measures taken to ensure that, when two or more employers undertake activities simultaneously at one workplace, they collaborate in order to comply with the prescribed measures for the application of this Convention.

Article 8, paragraph 1. The Committee notes that section 63 of the Safety and Health Regulations provides that exposure limits be set for corrosive, irritating and toxic substances by the Inter-Institutional Committee on Occupational Safety and Health. The Government is requested to indicate the criteria established for determining the hazards of exposure to these substances and/or any exposure limits set by this Committee. Furthermore, the Government is requested to indicate whether criteria for determining the hazards of exposure to vibration have been established and to supply copies of the tables limiting the periods of exposure to noise beyond 85dB, referred to in section 55.7.

Article 8, paragraph 3

(a) The Committee notes that, by virtue of section 5.6 of the Safety and Health Regulations, the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) is responsible for keeping up-to-date with technical information available from the relevant national and international organisations. By virtue of section 2(3)(c), the IESS is represented on the Inter-Institutional Committee concerning Occupational Safety and Health. As the Inter-Institutional Committee's powers include suggesting to the executive possible amendments to the existing regulations and setting the standards necessary for their implementation (section 2(2)(b)), the Government is requested to indicate the manner in which current national and international knowledge is taken into account when the criteria for determining the hazards of exposure to air pollution, noise and vibration, and the exposure limits for such exposure, are established, supplemented and regularly revised. The Government is also requested to indicate the manner in which any increase in occupational hazards resulting from simultaneous exposure to several harmful factors at the workplace is taken into account in the setting and revision of these criteria and exposure limits.

(b) The Committee has noted above that under section 55.7 of the Safety and Health Regulations the undertaking shall provide personal protective equipment to workers exposed to noise beyond the maximum permissible limit of 85dB or shall ensure that the duration of the activity involving exposure to excessive levels of noise shall be in accordance with established timetables. The Committee looks forward to receiving copies of these tables as requested under Article 8, paragraph 1 and trusts that they will complement the practical directive published by the ILO entitled Worker Protection against Noise and Vibration at the Workplace. It would draw the Government's attention to, in particular, section 4.3 of this directive which sets forth special provisions concerning exposure to noise beyond the normal threshold limit of 85dB and Appendix 1 which indicates the duration of exposure to high levels of noise established in a variety of international instruments.

Article 10. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to indicate whether general measures ensuring that personal protective equipment is made available to workers exposed to vibrations included the provision of special items such as double-layer gloves specially designed to prevent transmission of vibration through the hands, shoes with soles that absorb vibration transmitted by the ground, etc. The Committee notes that section 55.8 prescribes in general terms that anti-vibration protective equipment shall be provided to workers exposed to vibrations. The Government is requested to indicate whether any guide-lines or instructions have been established concerning the type of personal protective equipment, in particular the special items mentioned above, which should be provided to workers exposed to vibration.

Article 11, paragraph 1. The Committee notes that, by virtue of section 11.6 of the Safety and Health Regulations, an employer must provide workers working in dangerous activities with periodic medical examinations and that section 55.7 provides that the hearing of workers exposed to more than 85dB must be controlled annually. The Government is requested to indicate the measures taken to ensure that pre-assignment medical examinations are given to workers who may be assigned to work involving exposure to air pollution, noise or vibration and to indicate whether the competent authority has determined the periodicity for post-assignment medical examinations other than those provided under section 55.7 for workers exposed to excessive levels of noise.

Article 12. The Committee notes that the Safety and Health Regulations empower the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Co-operatives and Fishing to prohibit the import, sale, exhibition and use of machines, equipment and products which do not meet the requirements of the Regulations and to ensure that the Regulations are respected (sections 6(1)(a) and 7(2)). Section 6(2) provides that a technical study of the safety and health issues relevant to a proposed process must be undertaken and that the engineering proposal must include the procedures necessary to counter the occupational risks involved. The Government is requested to indicate the procedures existing or envisaged for the notification of the use of processes, substances, machinery and equipment involving exposure to air pollution, noise or vibration which would permit the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Co-operatives and Fishing to effectively execute the powers granted to it by the above-mentioned sections.