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

The Committee notes the Government’s reports, the information provided in reply to its previous comments and the attached documents. It also notes the draft legislation prepared recently with the technical assistance of the ILO in the context of a cooperation project with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

1.  Socio-economic situation and labour inspection.  The Committee notes with concern the socio-economic impact of the epidemic of HIV infection. It notes the educational activities carried out by the Government and the health measures taken, but notes that the information provided by the Government and the conclusions of a report by a joint ILO/UNDP/EAMAT mission undertaken in 1995 on labour administration indicate that the structures of the labour inspection system are in a critical situation. The decentralization of the organization and the management of services and personnel of the labour inspectorate is resulting in practice in serious shortcomings in supervising the application of legal provisions for which the labour inspectorate is responsible in an environment which is characterized by the very rapid growth in the number of national and foreign private industrial enterprises. Noting that the provisions of the Convention are not applied, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the importance, particularly in such a difficult economic, health and social situation, of ensuring the best possible protection for workers.

2.  Material and financial resources of the labour inspectorate (Articles 10, 11 and 16).  The Committee notes the Government’s repeated statements concerning the crucial lack of means of transport and transport facilities and its consequences on workplace inspection. Furthermore, according to the report of the ILO/UNDP/EAMAT mission, the premises serving as offices for labour inspectors in some districts give rise to problems of accessibility for their users and are not equipped to meet the needs of the service. According to the Government, even before the decentralization of inspection services, difficulties were experienced in the application of the requirements set out in Article 11 in view of the same budgetary constraints on personnel and means of transport in particular. The Committee notes that the inadequacy of the resources of the inspection services encourages a general laxity by employers with regard to their legal obligations respecting occupational safety and health and other conditions of work. The Committee wishes to emphasize once again, as it did in paragraph 214 of its 1985 General Survey on labour inspection, the economic and social value of labour inspection and the social cost of reducing its effectiveness. It trusts that measures will be taken, including having recourse to international cooperation, to ensure that the proportion of the national budget allocated to labour inspection is determined as a function of the priority nature of the objectives which it should be assigned in accordance with the Convention.

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government.