Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139) - Belgium (Ratification: 1996)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its reports. It wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the following matter.

Article 5 of the Convention.  The Committee notes that pursuant to section 15, paragraph 1, of the Royal Decree of 2 December 1993 concerning the protection of workers against hazards connected with exposure to carcinogenic substances, as modified, workers assigned to activities likely to entail a risk of exposure to carcinogenic substances benefit from a prior medical examination which includes a biological examination, if appropriate, and that medical supervision must be provided at least once yearly throughout the time that the worker suffers this exposure. In addition, section 15, paragraph 3, provides for medical supervision, after an opinion by the adviser in preventive medicine, for workers who show some anomaly resulting from exposure to carcinogenic substances. The Committee recalls that Article 5 of the Convention, which provides that measures shall be taken to ensure that workers are provided with such medical examinations or biological or other tests or investigations during the period of employment and thereafter as are necessary to evaluate their exposure and supervise their state of health in relation to the occupational hazards, is intended to meet the frequent situation in which the cancer is not discovered before the worker leaves the employment involving exposure to carcinogenic substances. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that workers have a medical examination after cessation of the work involving exposure to carcinogenic substances. It also requests the Government to indicate the criteria laid down to determine whether biological supervision is appropriate.