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The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government’s brief report for the period
January–September 2006 and the attached documents. The Government is requested to supply further information on the following points.

Article 5 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the steps taken by the competent authorities to promote: effective cooperation between the inspection services and other government services and public or private institutions engaged in similar activities (Article 5(a)); and collaboration between officials of the labour inspectorate and employers and workers or their organizations (Article 5(b)).

Article 6. Please indicate the manner in which effect is given to this provision, according to which the inspection staff must be composed of public officials whose status and conditions of service are such that they are assured of stability of employment and are independent of changes of government and of improper external influences.

Article 7. Please supply information on arrangements for, and the length and content of, initial training for labour inspectors at the time of their appointment and on the content of any subsequent training.

Article 8. Please state the proportion of women at each level of responsibility in the labour inspectorate and indicate whether special duties are assigned to men and women inspectors.

Article 9. Please indicate the measures taken, in accordance with this Article, to ensure that duly qualified technical experts and specialists, including specialists in medicine, engineering, electricity and chemistry, are associated in the work of inspection, for the purpose of securing the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to the health and safety of workers and of investigating the effects of processes, materials and methods of work on the health and safety of workers. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would also provide copies of the texts serving as the legal basis for such collaboration and also give practical examples of the implementation thereof.

Articles 14 and 21. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the cases and the circumstances in which the labour inspectorate must be notified of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease (declaration deadline, causes, extent of injuries, length of incapacity for work, number of casualties, etc.), pursuant to section 56 of Decree No. 24-A/90 on labour inspection regulations. It would be grateful if the Government would also indicate the steps taken to ensure the collection of relevant data for the inclusion thereof in an annual report in conformity with Article 21(f) and (g) of the Convention. If such is not yet the case, it requests the Government to take measures to this end, to keep the Office informed thereof and notify it of any difficulties encountered.

Article 18. The Committee notes that section 38(a) and (b) of the Labour Inspection Regulations provides for the imposition of penal sanctions on employers guilty of obstructing labour inspectors in the performance of their duties (section 186 of the Penal Code) and on anyone guilty of false testimony or false statements (sections 28 and 188 of the Penal Code). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the manner in which contraventions of the legislation concerning conditions of work and the protection of workers are penalized and send copies of the relevant legal provisions.

Article 19. Noting that, under section 17(h) of the Labour Inspection Regulations, inspectors are required to draw up and submit to their superiors for examination quarterly reports on the inspection activities undertaken and the results achieved, the Committee requests the Government to send copies, by way of example, of such periodic reports and supply information on the practical use made of the data that they contain.

Articles 10, 11 and 16. The Committee notes that the size of the inspection staff has not increased significantly for many years. It also observes that the working of the labour inspectorate is hampered by a severe shortage of resources, especially transport facilities, with inspectors being limited to operating within an area reachable on foot in certain cases. The Government is requested to indicate, if possible, the number and geographical distribution of industrial and commercial workplaces liable to inspection, and also the number of workers employed therein. If such data are not available, the Committee urges the Government to adopt measures quickly for registering these establishments and recording the numbers of workers employed therein by having recourse to all practical means, including the effective cooperation of any other competent body (commercial register, tax authorities, social security institutions, etc.), so as to have the necessary information for determining, in the context of the annual state budget, human, material and logistical resources for the labour inspectorate. The Committee hopes that the Government will keep the Office informed of all progress made to this end, and also of any difficulties encountered.

Articles 20 and 21. The Committee requests the Government to take steps to fulfil the conditions, as prescribed by Article 20, enabling the publication and transmission to the ILO of an annual general report on the work of the inspection services, containing available information on each of the subjects listed in Article 21 and presented as far as possible as recommended by Paragraph 9 of Recommendation No. 81, and to keep the ILO informed of all progress made in this respect. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the possibility of requesting technical assistance from the ILO in order to give effect to these provisions and also to seek the necessary financial resources in the context of international economic cooperation.

International cooperation. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government regarding the seminar on cooperation in the field of labour inspection which took place in August 2006 between the member States of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). It requests the Government to indicate the action taken, if applicable, further to the conclusions and recommendations of the seminar, especially regarding the setting up of collaboration on the exchange of information and documentation, technical assistance with the drafting of supplementary legislation, devising of methods, and also cooperation with regard to initial and subsequent training for inspectors. With reference to a previous Government report concerning funding by the abovementioned organization for the training of more than 50 inspectors, the Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the implementation of this training, on the other cooperation activities under way or planned, and also on their impact on the results of labour inspections.