Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

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

Legislation. Technical assistance. With regard to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the information provided by the Government is of a general nature and, as yet, there are still no specific regulations giving full effect to the Convention. In this respect, the Government indicates that it has not yet been able to update the national regulations and therefore would like to receive technical assistance from the Office, with a view to preparing reports, drafting legislation and matters related to the application of the Convention. The Committee invites the Government to formally request technical assistance from the Office and to provide information on any developments in this respect.

Consequently, the Committee is bound to reiterate its comments of 2009, which read as follows:

Article 6(2) of the Convention. Requirement for employers to cooperate in applying prescribed measures. The Committee notes that the Government merely refers to its previous report without answering the question raised by the Committee. It reminds the Government that under this Article, whenever two or more employers undertake activities simultaneously at one workplace, they shall have the duty to collaborate in order to comply with the prescribed measures and that, in appropriate circumstances, the competent authorities shall prescribe general procedures for this collaboration. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which it ensures compliance in law and in practice with the duty to collaborate laid down in this Article and, if necessary, to prescribe the procedures for such collaboration.

Article 8(1) and (3). Air pollution and vibration. For several years the Committee has been asking the Government provide information on the establishment, by the Inter-institutional Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, of exposure limits for corrosive, irritating and toxic substances, by adopting the standards established for such substances by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. The Committee notes that according the Government, Ecuador has regulated maximum permissible limits of exposure only for asbestos and, for all other cases, they apply international standards. The Committee requests the Government to indicate which international standards it applies, and to submit a copy of the legal provisions providing for the application of these standards. Please also provide documentation on the criteria currently used to define the risks of exposure to air pollution and vibration in the workplace, and the exposure limits, as well as on the manner in which these criteria and limits are supplemented and revised in practice, together with relevant documentation.

Article 10. Exceeding exposure limits and protective equipment. The Committee once again notes that the Government has not sent the information requested. It invites the Government to indicate the methods prescribed for determining whether the limits specified in pursuance of Article 8 are exceeded and to specify the guidelines or instructions on the type of personal protective equipment to be provided to the workers exposed should these limits be exceeded.

Article 11. Medical examinations (pre-assignment and periodical). Please provide information on measures taken, in law and in practice, to regulate how these examinations are carried out and their periodicity.

Article 12. Notification to the competent authority of processes, substances, machinery and equipment which involve exposure. The Committee repeats its request to the Government for information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the use of processes, substances, machinery and equipment involving exposure to air pollution, noise or vibration are notified to the competent authorities.

Application of the Convention in practice. Please provide general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied, together with extracts from inspection reports, with an indication of the number and nature of infringements detected in connection with the Convention, including in the telephone sector. Please also provide reports prepared pursuant to the Andean Occupational Safety and Health Instrument that may be relevant, to enable the Committee to ascertain more fully the extent to which the Convention is applied.

The Committee hopes that the Government will do its utmost to adopt the necessary measures, in the very near future.