Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Benzene Convention, 1971 (No. 136) - Colombia (Ratification: 1976)

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Application of the Convention to all activities involving exposure of workers to products containing benzene, and Article 4(1). Prohibition of the use of benzene or products containing benzene in certain work. For many years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to take appropriate measures to extend the scope of application of its national legislation to ensure that it covers all activities involving exposure of workers to benzene or products of benzene containing more than 1 per cent by volume of benzene, in accordance with Article 1 of the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee previously requested the Government to take legislative measures to determine the work processes in which the use of benzene and products of benzene is prohibited, in accordance with Article 4(1) of the Convention. The Committee notes with regret the information provided by the Government that there are no specific standards on benzene establishing the protection of workers against risks related to exposure to or use of this chemical as required by Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Convention. However, the Government indicates that there are general technical standards which could contribute to protecting workers against exposure, such as Colombian Technical Standard NTC 1728 of 1982 concerning protective respiratory equipment against toxic gases. Furthermore, the Government indicates that, given that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified benzene as group 1, the Ministry of Social Protection signed an agreement with the National Cancer Institute in 2008 with the aim of drawing up a technical standard and the National Plan on the Prevention of Occupational Cancer in Colombia 2010–14. The general objective of the Plan is to promote the prevention of occupational cancer and its social, economic and personal impact across the national territory. The specific objectives include the goal of developing and maintaining a system for collecting data on morbidity and mortality; investigating carcinogenic agents; implementing systems of monitoring at the government level; determining the priorities relating to vigilance and exposure; implementing the international recommendations made by the WHO and the ILO on matters relating to occupational cancer; and providing information to workers. The Committee notes that the issue is the scope of the Convention, as defined in Article 1(a) and (b), that Colombia ratified the Convention more than 30 years ago and that the Government should give full effect to all provisions of the Convention relating to the aromatic hydrocarbon mentioned in Article 1(a), as well as products containing benzene, in accordance with Article 1(b), whether by means of specific technical standards on benzene or more general standards on occupational cancer. As pointed out by the Government in its report, this matter has effects in various Articles of the Convention. Taking into account the information provided by the Government that there are no specific technical standards on benzene, but taking into account also that the standards on protection against occupational cancer could cover certain aspects of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which these standards cover the provisions of the Convention concerning exposure to products containing benzene. Furthermore, taking into account that one of the objectives of the National Plan on the Prevention of Occupational Cancer is to ensure compliance with the ILO Conventions and that 30 years after its ratification the application of the national legislation to the two cases provided for in the Convention is still not guaranteed, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that the Convention also applies to activities involving exposure of workers to products containing benzene and to provide the relevant texts, as well as relevant information relating to the Convention arising from the implementation of the National Plan on the Prevention of Occupational Cancer.

Article 9(1)(b). Periodic medical re-examinations. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether the medical examinations to be carried out in the framework of the subprogramme of preventive and occupational medicine are compulsory and whether the subprogramme has a binding effect which does not leave it to the discretion of the employer to carry out or to not carry out the medical examinations. Furthermore, the Committee, reminding the Government that this provision of the Convention calls for periodic re-examination at intervals to be fixed by national laws or regulations, requested the Government to take the appropriate legislative measures in this regard and to specify the periodicity of the medical examinations to be carried out according to the above subprogramme. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that section 19(1) of Ministry of Social Protection Resolution No. 2346 of 2007, as amended by Resolution No. 1918 of 2009, provides that occupational medical assessments constitute one of the main activities under the subprogramme on preventive and occupational medicine. The Committee notes with interest that, under the terms of section 13 of Resolution No. 2346, the employer is under the obligation to carry out specific occupational medical examinations in accordance with the risk factors to which the worker is exposed and according to the worker’s individual conditions, using as a minimum the parameters established and the biological exposure indices (BEIs) recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). It also provides that in cases of exposure to carcinogenic agents, the criteria of the International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC) shall be taken into account; in the case of exposure to agents causing pneumoconiosis, the criteria of the International Labour Organization shall be observed; and that in following up cases of diseases caused by biological agents, the criteria of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) shall be taken into account. The section also provides that, where there are no criteria or parameters for the evaluation of risk factors or agents, and no biological exposure indices, the employer shall establish an evaluation protocol which shall include the identification of the risk factor or agent, vigilance criteria and the frequency of the medical assessment. Please indicate the intervals fixed by the national legislation, in accordance with this provision of the Convention, and continue providing information on any other regulations in this respect. Please also indicate the manner in which these medical examinations are organized in practice.

Part IV of the report form in relation with Articles 1(a) and (b), 5 and 9 of the Convention. Exposed workers. Preventive measures. Medical examinations. The Government has communicated a guide, drawn up in 2008, focusing on occupational safety and health with specific reference to benzene and its derivatives. Please provide information on the practical application of the guide, the manner in which it facilitates the application of the Convention, in particular, preventive measures in accordance with Article 5. Please provide statistics or estimates of the number of workers exposed to benzene under the terms of Article 1(a) and (b) of the Convention and on the manner in which the medical examinations envisaged in Article 9 of the Convention will be implemented.