Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Djibouti

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) (Ratification: 1978)
Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention, 1925 (No. 18) (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s reports, due since 2018, have not been received. In the light of the urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2020, the Committee will proceed with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of the ratified Conventions on social security, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 17 (compensation of accidents) and 18 (occupational diseases) together.

Application of Conventions Nos 17 and 18 in practice. In its previous comments on the application of Convention No. 17, the Committee noted that, according to the Government, the high incidence of industrial accidents stemmed from the lack of a prevention and safety policy in upstream enterprises, and a lack of resources for investing in appropriate protective equipment. In the absence of up-to-date information available to it, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on (i) the number and nature of the occupational accidents reported and the number of cases of sickness detected; (ii) the amounts of the compensation payments in cash and in kind; and (iii) any other relevant information concerning the operation and effective implementation of the industrial accidents compensation scheme in order to be able to examine the application of Conventions Nos 17 and 18 in practice.

With regard to the monitoring of the application of the Conventions at the national level, the Committee is bound to highlight the importance of occupational safety and health standards, which represent an essential counterpart to the protection provided by social security in cases of industrial accidents, and refers the Government to the comments formulated under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81).

Article 2 of Convention No. 18. Schedule of occupational diseases. In its previous comments, the Committee recalled that the schedule of occupational diseases annexed to Resolution No. 38 of 23 May 1959 did not cover certain poisonings caused by inorganic mercury compounds or, in particular, by organic compounds of lead (such as tetraethyl lead) or of mercury (such as phenyl mercury or methyl mercury), whose signs and symptoms differ significantly from those of lead poisoning or mercury poisoning. The Committee therefore noted that the schedule did not cover all of the pathological conditions caused by these substances, as required by Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee recalls that, according to this Article, the diseases and poisoning produced by the substances set forth in the Schedule appended to the same Article, as well as those caused by the alloys or compounds of these substances (lead and mercury), like the direct consequences of this poisoning, must be considered as occupational diseases when they affect workers engaged in the trades or industries corresponding to them in the said schedule. Noting the information transmitted by the Government concerning the launch of a wide-ranging programme for the registration of occupational diseases and the establishment of a new nomenclature for schedules of occupational disease, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, the Committee trusted that this would be established in the near future. The Committee notes that, according to the information on the website of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), the national schedules listing the occupational diseases are “regularly updated”.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the updating of the schedule of occupational diseases referred to on the CNSS website has resulted in the inclusion of all the diseases and poisoning produced by the substances listed in the schedule appended to Article 2 of Convention No. 18, and to provide a copy of the legislative or regulatory texts containing the updating of the national schedules, or any other measure adopted in order to ensure the full application of the Convention.

The Committee has been informed that, based on the recommendations of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM Tripartite Working Group), the Governing Body has decided that Member States for which Conventions Nos 17 and 18 are in force should be encouraged to ratify the Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121), and/or the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), accepting the obligations in its Part VI (see GB.328/LILS/2/1). Conventions Nos 121 and 102 reflect the more modern approach to employment injury benefits. The Committee therefore encourages the Government to follow up the Governing Body’s decision at its 328th Session (October-November 2016) approving the recommendations of the SRM Tripartite Working Group and to consider ratifying Convention No. 121 or Convention No. 102 (accepting Part VI) as the most up-to-date instruments in this subject area.