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

Repetition

Also with reference to its observation, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide additional information on the following points.

Article 5(a) of the Convention. Effective cooperation between the inspection services and the judiciary. The Committee notes that, further to the recommendations formulated in its general observation of 2007, the Ministry of Labour has launched a dialogue with the ILO Regional Office for the Arab countries with regard to the organization of a workshop aimed at promoting cooperation between the labour inspectorate and the judiciary. The Committee hopes that such an initiative will have a rapid effect and that inspection activity aimed at ensuring compliance with the legislation relating to conditions of work will be supported by the competent judicial authorities through appropriate decisions regarding violations recorded in inspection reports. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the action taken with regard to the planned workshop on the promotion of effective cooperation between the labour inspectorate and the judiciary bodies and also to supply copies of any relevant document.

Article 7(3). In-service training for labour inspectors. The Committee notes the information supplied in reply to its previous comments concerning the participation of 45 labour inspectors in training given by the Beirut Regional Office on the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and also on labour inspection, women’s work, labour administration and the Labour Code. It also notes that, in the context of labour inspection and occupational safety and health, 11 medical inspectors and 12 engineer inspectors took a one-month training course in July–August 2009 in the context of the joint ILO–United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) programme for the transfer of knowledge through expatriate nationals (TOKTEN), with specific reference to Lebanese experts. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply detailed information on in-service training for labour inspection personnel and to keep the ILO informed of the impact of this training on the volume and quality of inspection activities and their results.

Articles 10 and 16. Changes in numbers of inspection staff and frequency of inspection visits. The Committee notes the substantial increase in labour inspection staff through the recruitment of seven doctors, nine engineers and ten labour inspectors, who are currently at the probationary stage. It also notes the communication of information on the gender distribution of inspection staff, including assistant inspectors (29 out of 92 inspectors are women). Noting that, according the Government, these staff members are distributed throughout the country in order to promote labour inspection and extend the scope of its action, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the impact of the increase in the numbers of inspectors, on the number of inspections in workplaces covered by the Convention and on the level of application of the national legislation relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work.

Article 12(1) and (2). Right of inspectors to enter freely any workplace liable to inspection. The Committee notes that, as asked in its direct request of 2007, labour inspectors are now authorized, under the terms of paragraph 6 of Memorandum No. 68/2 of 2009, to enter workplaces liable to inspection not only during the working hours of those workplaces but also at any hour of the day or night. It notes, however, with concern that this text also provides that any unscheduled inspection visit must be authorized in writing by the head of service, according to the terms of a mission order stating, inter alia, the objective and limits of the inspection and that the inspector is prohibited from exceeding these limits. The Committee would like to emphasize strongly that labour inspectors’ right of free entry, as prescribed by Article 12(1)(a), is subject only to the possession of proper credentials. In order to ensure the effectiveness of any inspection, and also to preserve the anonymity of persons making complaints where an inspection is made further to a complaint (Article 15(c)), the labour inspector should have the right to initiate inspections and, be able to decide freely the timing and extent of inspections, in accordance with the information held and the observations made on the spot. In accordance with Article 12(2), the inspector should also have the freedom, in relation to the same objective, to refrain from notifying the employer or his representative of his presence where he considers that such a notification may be prejudicial to the performance of his duties. The Committee therefore requests the Government to ensure that Memorandum No. 68/2 of 2009 is amended in order to ensure that labour inspectors have the right of entry to workplaces liable to inspection in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Convention and to supply relevant information in its next report, together with copies of any texts or documents describing progress made in this respect.

Article 14. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government concerning the relevant legislation and the planned establishment of a special register relating to industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease under the terms of Decree No. 11802/2004 and Decree No. 14229 of 26 February 2005. It also notes that Decree No. 35/2 of 3 April 2009 provides for the inclusion of relevant data in the annual report on the work of the inspection services. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of all progress made in this respect.

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and communication of an annual report on the work of the inspection services. The Committee duly notes the Government’s request for technical assistance from the Office with regard to the creation of a register of workplaces liable to inspection and the workers employed therein. With reference to its general observation of 2009 on this Convention, the Committee can only re-emphasise the crucial importance of such a tool for the effective functioning of any labour inspection system. It hopes that the instruction in Memorandum No. 35/2 of 3 April 2009 requiring the inspection services to include information on the matters covered by in Article 21(b)–(d) of the Convention in inspection reports will have a rapid effect and that, pending the publication of an annual report, the relevant information will be communicated in the Government’s report. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of the steps taken to obtain technical assistance with regard to the establishment and updating of a register of workplaces liable to inspection and on the outcome of such measures.