Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148) - Zambia (Ratification: 1980)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government as well as the adoption of the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Act, 1990, which gives effect to certain provisions of the Convention with respect to measures for prevention, control of and protection against occupational hazards in the working environment due to air pollution and noise.

1. The Committee notes that no measures were prescribed by national legislation for the prevention and control of, and protection against, occupational hazards due to vibration. The Committee notes the Government's statement in its report concerning legislative provisions which will be made to satisfy the requirement of the Convention with regard to vibration after a study undertaken in this respect. The Committee hopes that such provisions will be adopted in the near future and that they will give effect to Articles 2, 4, 8, 9, 12 and 14 of the Convention with regard to vibration.

2. The Committee asks the Government to provide supplementary information relating to the following points:

Article 6, paragraph 2. The Committee notes that inspectors will make administrative arrangements for collaboration between two or more employers undertaking similar activities at one workplace. The Government is requested to indicate the manner in which it is established the duty of two or more employers undertaking activities simultaneously at one workplace to collaborate in order to comply with the prescribed measures.

Article 7, paragraph 2. The Committee notes that workers through their representative organizations are free to make proposals on matters concerning their safety and health, and these organizations may consult the appropriate government authorities as regards those proposals. The Government is requested to describe the procedure available to workers or their representatives to obtain training so as to ensure protection against occupational hazards due to air pollution, noise and vibration in the working environment.

Article 8, paragraphs 2 and 3. The Committee notes that draft regulations designed to establish, supplement and revise criteria and exposure limits of air pollution, noise and vibration in the working environment are elaborated with the participation of technical committees as well as certain bodies such as the Council for Scientific Research, the Mines Safety Department, the Zambia Bureau of Standards, the Ministry of Health, the Factories Department and non-governmental organizations concerned with the conservation of nature. The Government is requested to indicate which representative organizations of employers and workers concerned have designated technically competent persons for the purpose of this Article. Please describe the procedures by which the established criteria and exposure limits are regularly supplemented and revised in the light of current international knowledge and data.

Article 10. The Committee notes that in conformity with section 69(2) of the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Act, 1990, workers exposed to excessive levels of noise shall be adequately protected in accordance with the directives of the Inspectorate. The Government is requested to indicate the methods prescribed for determining whether the exposure limits which are established by the Environmental Council, according to section 67(b) of this Act, are exceeded, and which specific directives are given by the Inspectorate to protect workers exposed to such excessive levels of air pollution, noise and vibration. Please indicate the measures taken to ensure that workers are protected in analogous cases against hazards due to air pollution and vibration.

Article 11, paragraphs 1 and 2. The Committee notes the Government's declaration concerning the supervision of workers' health which is required in cases of emergency such as the presence of highly toxic substances and excessive noise levels. The Committee recalls that, in accordance with these provisions of the Convention, the supervision of the health of workers exposed or liable to be exposed to occupational hazards shall include a pre-assignment medical examination and periodical examinations at suitable intervals; both of those types of examinations are to be free of cost for the workers. The Government is requested to indicate measures ensuring the supervision of the health of the above-mentioned categories of workers.

3. The Government is requested to supply information concerning the application of the following provisions of the Convention:

Article 5, paragraphs 1, 2 and 4: Procedures followed for consulting the most representative organizations of employers and workers and for associating representatives of employers and workers in the elaboration of provisions concerning the practical implementation of measures prescribed in order to give effect to the provisions of the Convention;

Article 6, paragraph 1: Provisions under which employers shall be made responsible for compliance with the measures prescribed in the national legislation that give effect to the Convention;

Article 7, paragraph 1: Provisions under which workers shall be required to comply with safety procedures relating to the prevention and control of, and protection against, occupational hazards due to air pollution, noise and vibration in the working environment;

Article 11, paragraphs 3 and 4: Measures taken to provide workers, whose continued assignment to work involving exposure to air pollution, noise or vibration is found to be medically inadvisable, with suitable alternative employment, or to maintain their income; measures ensuring that the rights of workers under social security or social insurance legislation are not adversely affected;

Article 13: Steps ensuring that all persons concerned shall be informed of potential occupational hazards and instructed in the measures available for the prevention and control of, and protection against, those hazards;

Article 15: Circumstances in which and conditions on which employers are required to appoint a competent person or use a competent service to deal with the matters specified.