Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) - Sao Tome and Principe (Ratification: 1982)

1. The Committee notes the Government’s last report. It notes the information that the process to revise Act No. 1/90 on social security has not yet been completed because of the delay in the PROSOCIAL project (social protection development project in Portuguese-speaking African countries), part of which was to formulate proposals for the amendment of the above Act. The Committee hopes that it will be possible, as a part of the multilateral cooperation programme (ILO - Portugal - Sao Tome and Principe), to amend the Social Security Act and that account will be taken of the following comments.

Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. (a) Referring to section 16 of Act No. 1/90 which establishes, contrary to this provision of the Convention, that the upper age limit for joining the social security scheme is 47 years for men and 42 years for women, the Government states that there is a proposal to set the limit at 50 years for both men and women. While noting this proposal, the Committee is bound to remind the Government that the Convention establishes no age limit for eligibility to the protection it ensures. The Committee accordingly hopes that, in the revision of Act No. 1/90, the age limits will be abolished to allow older workers to be covered by the social security scheme, particularly in respect of protection in the event of industrial accidents.

(b) Under section 12 of Act No. 1/90, the general social security scheme may cover foreign workers who carry on an activity in Sao Tome and Principe where an agreement or a convention concluded with the country of origin of the foreign worker so provides. In its previous comments the Committee pointed out in this connection that the Convention applies to all foreigners, whether or not there are any agreements with their country of origin. In its last report, the Government states that section 12 of the Social Security Act will be examined and that, in practice, anyone working and paying contributions is covered by the protection guaranteed by the social security system. That being so, in the Committee’s view, it will be all the easier to amend Act No. 1/90 so that foreign workers, regardless of their countries of origin, are expressly covered by the general social security scheme and may thus receive the benefits ensured by the Convention in the event of industrial accident.

(c) The Committee trusts that in revising Act No. 1/90 it will possible, as the Government states, to introduce a provision expressly establishing that apprentices are covered by the Act, in accordance with this provision of the Convention.

Article 5. Under section 84(2) of Act No. 1/90, the pension for permanent incapacity is paid only if the injured person’s capacity to work is so reduced that he is unable to realize one-third of his earning capacity. In its previous reports, the Government noted that the pension for permanent incapacity was payable only in the event of total or irreversible incapacity. The Committee again expresses the hope that, in its revised version, Act No. 1/90 will provide for compensation in the form of periodical payments to be payable also in the event of partial permanent incapacity incurring a substantial loss of earning capacity, in accordance with the assurances given by the Government in its last report.

Article 6. Referring to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government confirms that there is a period during which a worker whose ill health continues beyond 24 months and whose permanent incapacity has not yet been pronounced by the Health Council may be unprotected (section 92 read in conjunction with section 95 of Act No. 1/90). The Committee hopes that in the revision of the above Act, this situation will, as the Government states, be taken into account.

Article 7. The Government states in its report that in the revision of Act No. 1/90, additional compensation will be laid down by law for injured persons whose incapacity is such that they require the constant help of another person. The Committee hopes that this will indeed be the case.

Article 8. The Committee recalls that the provisions of section 61, under which the social insurance service may request a review of the invalidity status of the insured person when there are signs of a change, do not apply to invalidity incurred by occupational accident pursuant to section 56(3) of Act No. 1/90. The Committee hopes that the new Act will provide for procedures for the review of compensation due in the event of occupational accidents where there is a change in the status of the injured person, in accordance with Article 8 of the Convention.

2. Articles 9 and 10. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government confirms that medical, surgical and pharmaceutical aid and the supply of artificial limbs and surgical appliances are ensured by the national health system, pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 18/86. The Committee once again requests the Government to state exactly which legislative provisions ensure the care provided by the Convention for persons injured in industrial accidents, the nature of such care and the hospitals or other medical institutions providing it. Please provide copies of the relevant provisions.