Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending May 2006, as well as the information contained in the general annual inspection report for 2005 on the activities carried out in agricultural undertakings. It also notes with interest the legislation and regulations adopted during the period covered by the report.

Article 9, paragraph 3, of the Convention. Specific skills of inspectors for the discharge of their duties in agricultural undertakings. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide further information on the training intended for labour inspectors in specific relation to the discharge of their duties in the agricultural sector (specific diseases, chemical hazards, technical skills, in particular with respect to risks inherent in the use of electrical equipment and the handling and use of chemical products or substances).

Articles 17 and 19. Role of the labour inspectorate in agriculture with respect to occupational safety and health. The Committee notes with concern that the number of persons suffering serious injury in agriculture remains constant, and that the number of fatal accidents has even increased compared to 2004. Emphasizing the need to develop preventive and informative labour inspection activities to reduce and prevent the specific occupational risks to which workers in the agricultural sector are exposed, the Committee invites the Government to refer to the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1969 (No. 133), with regard to the possibility of associating the labour inspectorate in preventive control through prior consultation on issues relating to the putting into operation of new plant, new materials or substances and new methods, and the plans of any plant in which dangerous machines or unhealthy or dangerous work processes are to be used (Paragraph 11). The Committee also draws the Government’s attention to the measures advocated by Recommendation No. 133 with a view to undertaking education campaigns aimed at employers and workers in the agricultural sector, such as the use of the services of rural promoters or instructors; distribution of posters, pamphlets, periodicals and newspapers; organization of film shows, and radio and television broadcasts; arrangements for exhibitions and practical demonstrations on hygiene and safety; inclusion of hygiene and safety and other appropriate subjects in the teaching programmes of rural schools and agricultural schools; organization of conferences for persons working in agriculture who are affected by the introduction of new working methods or of new materials or substances; participation of labour inspectors in agriculture in workers’ education programmes; and arrangements for lectures, debates, seminars and competitions with prizes (Paragraph 14). The Committee strongly encourages the Government to implement measures that it considers appropriate to the situation in the country in order to develop a health and safety culture in agricultural work with the support of the parties concerned, and requests it to provide information on any progress made in this regard.

Article 27. Content of the annual labour inspection report. Referring also in this regard to its comments under Convention No. 81, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that its annual inspection report contains the information required by this Article on all the legislative fields relating to the conditions of work and the protection of workers in agricultural undertakings covered by the inspection services.