Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, the comments by the National Union of Angolan Workers – Trade Union Confederation (UNTA–CS), received at the ILO on 17 November 2008. It also notes with interest the annual inspection report for 2008 in the form of a publication, as required by Article 20 of the Convention, and containing instructive information on the organization and working of the General Labour Inspectorate (IGT).

Legislation. Noting that the Government has not sent the information requested on the measures to develop, in consultation with the social partners, regulations to implement certain provisions of the law, the Committee requests the Government to take these measures and to keep the Office informed. It reminds the Government that it may seek assistance from the ILO for this purpose.

Article 3, paragraph 1(b), Article 17, paragraph 2, and Article 21(e) of the Convention. Practical instructive measures to prevent risks of occupational accidents and punishment of negligent employers. The Committee notes that, having declined in 2007, the number of occupational accidents again climbed to a high level in 2008. The reason appears to be a significant increase in the number of industrial and commercial workplaces (from 15,722 in 2006 to 18,555 in 2008) and of workers. In this connection, the Committee notes with interest the preventive measures taken such as: (a) the planning of inspection visits targeting activities that traditionally expose workers to a high risk of accidents (particularly civil and industrial construction and transport); (b) significant development in technical information activities; (c) various information campaigns on occupational safety and health, one of which, launched in 2007, is a standing programme on the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases in the construction sector; (d) establishment of a World Day for Safety and Health at Work; (e) dissemination in the press and audiovisual media of information on the IGT’s role in occupational safety and health, the Committee on the Prevention of Industrial Accidents in the Hydrocarbons Sector, standards concerning noise at work, occupational safety and health in the diamond mining sector; and (f) the creation of enterprise safety and health committees and accident prevention committees. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on the activities carried out by inspectors to introduce an occupational risk prevention culture, and on progress made in this area (statistics on occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease, contraventions of the relevant legislation). The Committee also asks the Government to indicate the policy applied by the labour inspectorate regarding employers that are reluctant to heed its technical advice and warnings.

Article 10. Adapting the labour inspectorate’s human, material and logistical resources to the expansion of industry and commerce.  The Committee notes with interest that the staff of the inspectorate has been increased (99 inspectors in 2005, 114 in 2006, 120 in 2007 and 138 in 2008) in order to cope with the continued growth in the number of workplaces subject to inspection. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how the budget for the IGT is determined, and in particular the share of the resources earmarked for annually programmed visits to workplaces by inspectors (technical equipment, transport facilities and reimbursement of duty travel expenses, for example).

The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on any outside financial support obtained in order to reinforce the labour inspection system, and to report on any progress made in this area.

Article 3, paragraph 2, and Article 5(a). Cooperation between the labour inspection services and other public bodies and institutions. According to the Government, the feasibility of establishing a forum for cooperation in the IGT, following a proposal by the UNTA–CS, is currently under study by the National Committee on ILO-related matters. The Government also indicates that joint inspections are carried out by the control services of the provincial governments, health inspectors and financial authorities. The Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the need to ensure that any cooperation between the inspection services and other public bodies or institutions should not target objectives that conflict with those of the Convention, but should contribute to improving the working of the labour inspectorate. The Committee invites the Government to refer in this connection to the Committee’s comments on this subject in its General Survey of 2006 on labour inspection (paragraphs 75–78 and 150–162), and asks the Government to provide information on the objective of the above joint inspections and on the measures taken to ensure that these do not adversely affect the duty of the labour inspectorate to protect workers.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.