Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2008, Publicación: 98ª reunión CIT (2009)

Article 5(a) of the Convention. Effective cooperation between the labour inspection services and the judicial system and other public services or institutions. The Committee notes with interest that, with a view to assisting labour inspectors in the preparation of legal cases, the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance employs a public prosecutor who examines and scrutinizes each case before it is registered at the court. It further notes that labour inspectors regularly attend training seminars at the police academy, during which police officers specialized in law explain the provisions of the Penal Code and provide guidance to labour inspectors on the methodology for taking statements and building a legal case. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information on such cooperation and on its impact on the enforcement of labour law, including information on judicial decisions in such cases and any sanctions imposed.

Articles 14 and 21(g). Notification of cases of occupational disease and relevant statistics. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments regarding the lack of statistics of cases of occupational diseases, the Government indicates that it is expected that such data will be collected following the enactment of the Safety and Health at Work (Occupational Diseases Notification) Regulations of 2007, which include the European schedule of occupational diseases as established in European Commission Recommendation No. 2003/670/EC of 19 September 2003. The Government adds that, in view of the insufficient number of occupational physicians in the country, it would however take some time before an accurate pool of such statistics is established.

The Committee notes with interest that, in order to remedy such shortcomings and initiate the collection of data on occupational diseases, the Department of Labour Inspection intends: (a) to launch an awareness-raising campaign to inform general practitioners of the handling and monitoring of suspected cases of occupational diseases; and (b) to organize, in cooperation with other private or public institutions, various seminars to increase the awareness of employers regarding the medical surveillance of their employees and their responsibility to notify occupational diseases. The Committee also notes with interest that, during 2006, the Occupational Diseases Prevention Service conducted surveys on working conditions and environment at workplaces where workers are likely to be exposed to agents hazardous to their health. Such surveys, conducted by the occupational physician of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, in close cooperation with other officers of the Department of Labour Inspection, were aimed at controlling the risk assessments and the application of preventive measures.

The Committee trusts that the implementation of the above measures will contribute to improving the notification rate of cases of occupational disease and enable the inclusion of the most accurate possible statistical data in future annual reports on the work of the labour inspection services. It would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information on any measures taken or envisaged for that purpose. It also requests the Government to describe the functioning in practice of the notification and recording system established by the Safety and Health at Work (Occupational Diseases Notification) Regulations of 2007, and on any measures taken or envisaged to increase the number of occupational physicians.

With regard to industrial accidents, the Committee notes the adoption in 2007 of the Safety and Health at Work (Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Notification) Regulations. According to the Government, these Regulations now include in the definition of “industrial accidents” accidents occurring on the way to or from work and contain, inter alia, requirements for keeping records of industrial accidents and dangerous occurrences. The Committee requests the Government to specify the types of industrial accidents that have to be notified to labour inspectors and to describe the notification procedure and its functioning in practice, as well as any difficulties encountered.

Article 20. Publication and transmission of an annual report of the work of the labour inspection services. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide the ILO with the copy of the annual report of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance for 2006, which was indicated as being attached to its report, but was not received by the ILO.