Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139) - Iraq (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes that the Government in its report refers to a strategic plan including the setting up of a medical centre for occupational diseases, and the report does not otherwise contain any new legislative information on the matters raised since 1997 concerning the application of the Convention. The Committee expresses the firm hope that relevant implementing legislation will be adopted in the near future and that the new legislative measures taken will provide an adequate response to the following comments of the Committee.

Article 3 of the Convention. Appropriate system of registers. As stated in its previous comments the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken to establish an appropriate system of records in respect of workers exposed to carcinogenic substances. The Committee reiterates that, in its 1993 report, the Government referred to the medical examinations provided to workers and the registers kept at the Centre for Statistics of the Ministry of Health of the number of cases of cancer, including occupational cancer. The Committee would, however, once again refer the Government to Chapter 8 of the ILO: Occupational Health Series, No. 39 on Occupational Cancer: Prevention and Control (second (revised) edition), 1988, concerning the establishment of registers. Such registers are intended to record not only information with respect to workers with occupational cancer, but also more generally the names of persons exposed to carcinogenic substances, the results of technical monitoring, special medical examinations and laboratory tests performed, regardless of their state of health, so that the competent authority and others concerned may have sufficient comparative data “to keep a close watch on the magnitude of the problem of occupational cancer in the country, the level of risk involved in the various types of exposure, the dose–response relationship and the effectiveness of preventive action”. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will take the necessary measures in the near future to establish an appropriate system of records, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, and requests the Government to indicate in its next report the progress made in this regard.

Article 5. Provision of medical examinations. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report that section 56 of the Social Security and Retirement Act, Mp- 39 of 1991 reportedly ensures that workers shall be provided with a medical examination one year after the termination of their employment. The Committee requests the Government to submit a copy of the referenced legislation and to provide further details regarding the application of this provision in practice.

Part IV of the report form. For a number of years, the Committee has requested the Government to provide the information requested under Part IV of the report form concerning the practical application of the Convention and, in particular, to provide relevant extracts from inspection reports and any statistics available on the number of workers covered by the legislation or other measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of contraventions reported, the number, nature and cause of cases of disease, etc. In its report, the Government has indicated that the Ministry of Health is responsible for producing the relevant statistics which also are published in an annual report. The Government is once again requested to provide, with its next report, extracts from inspection reports relevant to the measures taken for the application of the Convention, as well as any statistics on the numbers of workers covered by these measures, the number and nature of contraventions and the number and nature of diseases relating to exposure to carcinogenic substances.