ARTICLE 7, ITEM XXII, OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION: AN PERCEPTION AND EVALUATION ADJUSTMENT OF WHAT IS CALLED "OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, HYGIENE AND SAFETY NORMATIVE RULE”

Abstract

The article 7, item XXII, of the Federal Constitution of 1988 proclaims the fundamental right to the reduction of work-related hazards, referring to "normative rules" as the means to achieve that purpose. The conventional interpretation of the so-called "occupational health, hygiene and safety normative rule": a) refuses technical precepts located outside formal legal regulation; b) confines the concept to the idea of executive regulation, an infralegal rule act which, according to the argument, does not innovate the legal order; and c) infers that labor regulations contain the entire discipline of the subject, denying the character of occupational safety and health rule to sanitary and environmental provisions. Supported by the contributions of authors in tune with the constitutional principles of environmental law and with the conceptual assumptions which lead to the authentic meaning and reach of what is called occupational safety and health "normative rule", this study proposes to demonstrate the mistakes of that line of interpretation and to show, based on the wording of the item XXII of art. 7 and on the articulation of the content of the articles 196, 200 and 225 of the Fundamental Law: 1) the sufficient normativity of the constitutional clause inscribed in the item XXII of the art. 7, endowed with effectiveness, although open to infralegal regulation; 2) the legitimacy of the innovation in the legal order by means of executive regulations; and 3) the multiplicity of the sources of normative rules of work environmental laws.