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

Referring also to its observation under the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the following points:

1. Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention. The Committee notes with interest the annual inspection reports for 1993 and 1994. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue to transmit to the Office, within the time-limits set out in the Convention, annual inspection reports containing all the information required by the Convention.

2. Articles 16 and 21(c). The Committee notes the information contained in the 1993 annual labour inspection report that some 35,254 inspection visits were undertaken (general control, control of workers' health and safety, etc.) in workplaces employing some 2 million workers, amounting to 53 per cent of the total number of workers, indicated as being some 3.7 million. The Committee notes that the corresponding figures for 1994 have decreased to, respectively, 31,089 inspection visits covering 965,000 workers, representing 25 per cent of the total number of 3.8 million. The Committee would appreciate that the Government provide information on the total number of workplaces under the purview of the inspectorate and the number of workers employed therein. The Committee notes in this connection, in relation to inspections concerning safety and health, the information contained in the 1993 and 1994 annual labour inspection reports according to which, as there is not sufficient information on the number of workplaces that need to be inspected, it is not possible to determine the percentage of workplaces covered by these inspections. The Committee notes that as from 1994 data on workplaces under inspection were to be collected and processed by computerized means. The Committee hopes that any improvement will be reflected in the annual labour inspection reports and that the Government will provide information on the progress achieved in the identification of workplaces.

3. Article 17. The Committee notes that the TISK renews its views that inspections should be carried out in an educative rather than critical spirit and in such a way that production in the workplace is not disrupted. The Committee recalls that under the Convention failure to observe legal provisions shall lead to prompt legal proceedings and that it shall be left to the discretion of labour inspectors to give warning and advice instead of instituting or recommending proceedings.