CMNT_TITLE

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Finland (RATIFICATION: 1974)

Other comments on C129

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee refers to its comments under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), to the extent that they are relevant for the application of this Convention.

Article 9 of the Convention. Qualification and training of labour inspectors in agriculture. The Committee notes that the Government has not replied to its previous request for information on the measures taken or contemplated to ensure an effective system of labour inspection in agriculture, particularly in light of the information that the two specialist inspectors in agriculture in each of the five occupational safety and health (OSH) services in the regional administrative agencies will not be replaced by sector-specific inspectors if they retire. In this regard, the Committee would like to recall that the characteristics of work in the agricultural sector involve specific risks for workers (for example, related to the handling and use of chemicals and pesticides, and agricultural machinery) and therefore require specific skills from inspectors. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on how it is ensured that labour inspectors dispose of the required qualifications and technical knowledge to perform their duties adequately in the agricultural sector, including through the training of a sufficient number of labour inspectors in agriculture-related matters. In this regard, the Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention to Paragraphs 4 to 7 of Recommendation No. 133 on the minimum qualifications needed by labour inspectors called upon to work in the agricultural sector.

Article 6(1)(a)–(b) of the Convention. Enforcement and preventive activities in the area of OSH. The Committee notes the Government’s indications in its report that action plans for the five OSH divisions of the regional state administration agencies include “a primary production monitoring campaign for 2012–13 in agriculture and forestry”, which focuses on work in the grey economy and is aimed at ensuring healthy and safe working conditions and methods, including the safety of machines and equipment and the supervision of OSH services in enterprises. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the results of these campaigns (including the violations detected, the legal provisions concerned, proceedings initiated, remedies applied and sanctions imposed), and the impact of the campaign on the conditions of work and the protection of workers in agriculture, including information on the number of cases in which workers found to be in an irregular situation have been granted their due rights.

The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on any preventive activities in agriculture (for example the number of training courses provided by labour inspectors during inspection visits and the number of workers covered; any seminars held on OSH in agriculture, their duration and the number of participants, etc.) and their impact on the number of fatal and serious work accidents in agriculture.

Articles 6(1)(b) and 19. Notification to the labour inspectorate in agriculture of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease. The Committee recalls that it noted previously the decrease in the number of reported cases of paralysis of the nerves in the tibia, which is the most typical occupational disease for berry pickers. Referring to its direct request under Convention No. 81 on the measures taken or contemplated to improve the system for notifying and recording occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease, it would also be grateful if the Government would indicate whether preventive measures taken also include awareness-raising activities among workers and employers in agriculture about typical cases of occupational disease in agriculture and the mechanisms for the reporting of such cases.

Articles 25, 26 and 27. Reporting obligations regarding inspection activities. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, while information on labour inspection activities in the different sectors is available from the labour inspection database, it is not possible to include such information in annual reports of the OSH administration. In view of the data already available, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures for the publication, as a separate part or as part of the annual report of the OSH administration, statistics on the work of the inspection services in agriculture, containing the information required by items (a)–(g) of Article 27.