Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Kenya (Ratification: 1979)

Other comments on C129

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee also refers the Government to its comments under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), in so far as they are concerned with the application of the present Convention.

Articles 14 and 15 of the Convention. Lack of human and material resources and appropriate means of transport. The Committee previously noted the information from the ILO labour administration and inspection needs assessment (conducted at the request of the Government in 2010) that the lack of personnel and means of transport remain an obstacle to labour inspectors discharging their duties in the agricultural sector which, together with the informal economy, accounts for approximately 75 per cent of the working population.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that resource constraints in budgetary allocation, human and material resources as well as transport have continued to hamper effective delivery of general labour inspection services, including in the agricultural sector. While the Department of Labour and the Directorate for Occupational Safety and Health Services have made requests for additional funding and additional personnel, this has not been provided due to an ongoing freeze in employment in the core civil service, as well as an ongoing rationalization and capacity assessment reforms in the service. The Government indicates that, following these reforms, understaffed and under-resourced departments will benefit from the deployment of personnel from overstaffed agencies. The Government further states that the implementation of an assessment based on the identification of the agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the workers engaged therein may not be feasible within the existing budgetary framework, and that financial and technical assistance may be requested from the ILO to facilitate this activity.

The Committee notes that, according to the Annual Report for 2012–13 of the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services, due to a lack of transport most inspections are undertaken in a limited area that can be reached on foot or by the cheapest means of transport. Moreover, the Labour Commissioner’s Annual Report of 2012 indicates that, out of the 47 county offices, 28 offices have only one inspector and four have none. This report also indicates that the agricultural sector had the highest number of occupational accidents reported in 2012. The Committee expresses the firm hope that, within the framework of the reform of the civil service, measures will be taken to ensure that the number of labour inspectors in agriculture is sufficient to secure the effective discharge of the duties of the inspectorate. It requests that the Government provide information on any steps taken or envisaged to provide the labour inspection services with the material resources, including transport facilities, required for their effective functioning in the agricultural sector. Noting the Government’s indication concerning current budgetary limitations, the Committee requests that the Government continue to provide information on any steps taken towards carrying out an objective assessment of the situation based on the identification of the agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the workers engaged therein, including any technical assistance received to this end.

Articles 26 and 27. Preparation of an annual inspection report and contents to be covered. The Committee notes that while the Labour Commissioner’s Annual Report of 2012 contains information on the number of occupational accidents in agriculture, it does not contain information on the other subjects required under Article 27 of the Convention, particularly the number of inspections undertaken in agriculture (Article 27(d)), the number of agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the number of persons working therein (Article 27(c)), the violations detected and penalties imposed (Article 27(e)) and the number of occupational diseases detected (Article 27(g)). The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take steps so that future inspection reports contain full information on the activities of the labour inspection services in agriculture, as required under Article 27 of the Convention.