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The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in its last report. It notes with interest, in particular with regard to the adoption of new legislation and the organization of a recent national seminar which took place in Kuwait from 18 to 22 April 1998 with the participation of national and international experts, that the authorities are devoting greater attention to the need for an appropriately organized labour inspection system with the human and material resources needed to cover all establishments subject to the provisions of labour inspection legislation. The Committee hopes that the discussions that took place at this seminar will contribute to more effective application of the provisions of the Convention.

1. The Committee notes the adoption of Order No. 114 of 1996 concerning prevention and conditions at workplaces for protecting employees against work-related hazards. It requests the Government to provide in its next report copies of other recently adopted laws regarding labour inspection, in particular those cited in the report of the above-mentioned seminar, including Agreement No. 9 of 1998 and Resolution No. 8 of 1998 concerning labour inspection, and to provide information on the application of the new legislation and the use of material means, with a view to ensuring more effective management of labour inspection activities.

2. Noting that the report on the work of the above-mentioned national seminar on labour inspection refers to the creation by an Order of the Council of Ministers in 1994 of a tripartite interministerial commission responsible for labour inspection among other matters, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the relevant texts with its next report.

3. The Committee notes that the documents provided by the Government in the annex to its report contain no information regarding the medical experts and specialists who are supposed under the terms of Article 9 of the Convention to be associated in the work of inspection in order to ensure that legal provisions relating to health and safety are duly applied. It requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged with a view to applying this provision of the Convention as effectively as possible.

4. Noting the detailed labour inspection statistics for 1995, the Committee recalls that under Article 20 of the Convention, the central inspection authority is required to publish an annual general report on the work of the inspection services under its control (paragraph 1) and that copies of the annual reports must be transmitted to the Director-General of the International Labour Office within a reasonable period after their publication and in any case within three months (paragraph 3). The Committee emphasizes once again that the annual reports provide information on problems encountered in the course of labour inspection activities and on the practical results of these activities, and show to what extent it has been possible to ensure that workplaces are inspected as often and as thoroughly as necessary (Article 16). It therefore requests the Government to give effect to this provision, in particular by transmitting the annual reports referred to above within the periods required, and draws the Government's attention to the guidelines set out in Part IV of Recommendation No. 81 supplementing the Convention regarding the information which could be included in the annual inspection reports. Referring also to its general observation on the application of the Convention (1996), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next annual reports the information required under the terms of Article 21 of the Convention, including statistics of occupational diseases which the employer is required to record and keep at the workplace in accordance with section 10 of Order No. 114 (1996) referred to above as well as any other labour inspection statistics that may be of use.