Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention (Revised), 1934 (No. 42) - Greece (Ratification: 1952)

The Committee notes the observations of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) received in 2017.

Article 2 of the Convention. Conformity of the national list of occupational diseases with the Schedule established by the Convention. Further to its previous request on the draft national list of occupational diseases, the Committee notes with satisfaction that as indicated by the Government in its report, Annex I of the European schedule of occupational diseases, 2003/670/EC, became an integral part of the Presidential Decree No. 51 of 2012. The Committee further notes the Government‘s indication that a working group is to be established to set out the criteria for the recognition of occupational diseases based on the Explanatory Notes of the European Commission. In this regard, the Committee notes the GSEE’s observations that the new Schedule of occupational diseases has not been activated yet due to the fact that the necessary legislation determining the diagnostic criteria has not been issued. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in this respect.

Application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to explain the reasons for the significant drop in the number of new cases of recognized occupational diseases and to provide information on the functioning in practice of the procedure for recognizing a disease as occupational. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the number of occupational diseases remains low (less than 10 per year) and that the statistical processing is currently not feasible in practice. The Government further indicates its participation in an informal EU Group of Experts to lay down common criteria for diagnosing occupational diseases and address the lack of statistical data reliability and comparability on occupational diseases. The Committee notes the GSEE’s observations that the prevalence of occupational diseases is still not adequately monitored. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the necessary measures taken or envisaged to ensure the monitoring and collection of statistical data on occupational diseases.