CMNT_TITLE

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Honduras (RATIFICATION: 1983)

Other comments on C081

Observation

Direct Request

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Referring to its observation, the Committee wishes to raise the following additional points.

International cooperation. The Committee notes with interest that the pilot programme launched in the regional offices of Chuloteca, San Pedro Sula and Ceiba, within the framework of international cooperation and the Decent Work Country Programme, contributed to strengthening the competence of the inspectors in areas relating to the application of labour legislation and social dialogue.

Article 5(a) of the Convention. Effective cooperation between the inspection services and other government department and public or private institutions. With reference to its previous comments regarding joint inspections with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and certain other public institutions, the Government specifies that section 117(b) of the Labour Code provides that in special cases inspectors may request police assistance so that the performance of their duties is not impeded. The Minister for Security, through the police and at the request of the inspectors or the Office of the Attorney-General, helps to ensure the integrity, safety and free access of labour inspectors to workplaces. The Government maintains that the intention of the joint inspections with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic is to enforce penalties through court orders or warnings. The Committee requests that the Government provide a copy of the records of inspections in which the inspectors were assisted by members of the police in order to ensure the integrity, safety and free access of labour inspectors to workplaces.

Articles 12(1)(a) and (2). Free access for labour inspectors to workplaces liable to inspection and effective application of adequate penalties in cases of obstruction. In its previous comments, the Committee pointed out that it would seem that the situation relating to granting the right of entry to safety and health inspectors to workplaces had not made progress since 2006. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure that both law and practice are brought into line with the requirements of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information in this regard. The Committee hopes that the Government will ensure that both law and practice are brought into line with the requirements of the Convention under which labour inspectors provided with proper credentials must be empowered to enter freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection (Article 12(1)(a)) and on the occasion of an inspection visit, inspectors shall notify the employer or his or her representative of their presence, unless they consider that such a notification may be prejudicial to the performance of their duties (Article 12(2)).

Article 13. Right of labour inspectors to issue orders. In its previous comments, the Committee requested that the Government specify the division of work between the occupational safety and health technical experts and labour inspectors set forth in section 617(c) of the Labour Code, and to indicate the practical arrangements for their collaboration, and the authority to which reports are addressed on occupational safety and health and on industrial accidents. It also asked the Government to specify the legal provisions in force applying the provisions of Article 13 of the Convention. The Government considers that the officials responsible for supervising occupational safety and health are the safety and health technical experts, who are under the General Directorate of Social Security. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether Decree No. 49-84 remains in force and to specify the procedure that labour inspectors should follow when, during an inspection in a workplace, they notice conditions that in their judgement can endanger the workers’ safety and health, and how they should proceed when during an inspection they notice an imminent danger.

Article 14. Obligation to notify industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease to the labour inspectorate. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate steps taken or envisaged to ensure that national legislation provides for the conditions and the manner in which cases of occupational disease should be notified to the labour inspectorate. The Government states that the cases of occupational disease are notified to the General Directorate for Social Security, through the office responsible for occupational diseases and hazards of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, in line with the general regulations on prevention of industrial accidents and occupational diseases. Emphasizing, as in paragraph 118 of the 2006 General Survey on labour inspection, the importance of the preventive mandate of the labour inspectorate and the requirement under Article 14 of the Convention, in accordance with which the labour inspectorate shall be notified of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, in such cases and in such manner as may be prescribed by national legislation, the Committee requests the Government to ensure the establishment of a mechanism for the communication to the labour inspection services of cases of occupational diseases.

Articles 19, 20 and 21. Periodical reports and an annual inspection report. In its previous comments, the Committee requested that the Government provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure that the local inspection units produce periodical reports on the results of their activities, as stipulated in Article 19, and that these reports enable the central inspection authority to produce an annual report in accordance with Articles 20 and 21. The Government has transmitted the periodic reports produced by the regional offices. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to paragraphs 316–319 of the 2006 General Survey on labour inspection, which stresses the importance of the reports which the inspectors and the local and regional labour inspection services must periodically present to the central authority in the manner and on such subjects as prescribed by that authority for the preparation of the annual reports on labour inspection activities. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to ensure the publication and transmission to the ILO, in conformity with Article 20 of the Convention, of an annual report on the labour inspection services, containing all the information required under Article 21(a)–(g). The Committee also invites the Government to consider the possibility of availing itself, if necessary, of technical assistance from the Office to that end.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2016.]