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Article 6(1)(b) of the Convention. Preventive measures targeting types of recurrent occupational disease and industrial accidents. Prevention of occupational accidents. The Committee notes with interest the preventive measures targeting most of the more frequent occupational diseases. Besides intensive advice provided for the purpose of reducing the risks of all occupational diseases, these information campaigns focus on respiratory diseases and diseases transmissible from animals to humans. The Committee notes in particular: (i) the implementation of a system of information (Schwarz-Weiß-Systeme) on hygiene prescriptions to prevent outside pathogenic agents from entering buildings and facilities housing animals; (ii) incentives to employers to use the new tests for rapid evaluation of the quantity of allergenic factors in cattle sheds and to provide respiratory protection equipment to persons affected whose work necessarily brings them into contact with animals; and (iii) campaigns targeting skin diseases, for the periods 2007–08 and 2008–12. The Committee also notes with interest that one of the occupational safety objectives for the period 2008–12 is to reduce the number and seriousness of musculoskeletal disorders, and that prevention of spinal lesions is an objective for the period 2013–14.
Prevention of occupational accidents. The Committee notes, in connection with the 2008–12 objective of reducing the number and seriousness of occupational accidents, that the National Federation of the fund for the insurance and prevention of occupational accidents and diseases in agriculture (Spitzenverband der landwirtschaftlichen Berufsgenossenschaften) is now responsible, pursuant to section 143e of SGB VII (Social Code), for recording occupational accidents (number and seriousness) in detail and for devising, from the database, special preventive measures to apply in the agricultural sector.
The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on any developments in the policy for the prevention of occupational risks specific to agricultural work, and on the impact of the measures implemented.
The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending May 2008 and the statistical information and tables concerning labour inspection covering the period 2004–06.
Article 27(c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Convention. Scope and activities of the State inspection services and the inspection services of the Professional Association for Agriculture. The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government on the number of agricultural undertakings and their average size, the number of persons working in those undertakings as their principal or secondary activity, accidents entailing compulsory notification, including fatal accidents, as well as their causes, reported and recognized cases of occupational disease, as well as their causes, inspections, violations reported and the enforcement measures taken against those responsible.
Article 19. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease. Industrial accidents. The Government indicates that in agriculture, forestry and horticulture, certain natural events and disasters have a noticeable negative effect on the number of accidents and that an analysis of fatal accidents shows that their incidence also increases with the age of the insured person. The Committee notes that a small proportion of accidents are linked to the use of machinery and installations and that the inspection services therefore provide targeted advice and information for the categories of persons who are particularly exposed, including distributing a film aimed at older workers, and verify and certify machinery and installations. It also notes with interest that, according to the Government, the resources of professional agriculture associations were increased markedly during the period 2004–06 in order to strengthen the prevention of accidents. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide details on the various preventive measures implemented to reduce the number and seriousness of industrial accidents and indicate the impact of such measures on the occupational safety situation during the period covered by the next report.
Article 6, paragraph 2. Monitoring of the conditions of life of agricultural workers and their families. Noting that in 2006, two children under 14 years of age were the victims of accidents, one of which was fatal, the Committee requests the Government to specify whether these accidents involved workers or persons living on an agricultural undertaking and to indicate whether officials of the State labour inspectorate or those of the Professional Association for Agriculture carry out advisory or enforcement functions regarding the application of legal provisions relating to the conditions of life of workers and their families. If so, please provide details in this regard.
Cases of occupational disease. The Committee notes that the statistics on cases of occupational disease make a distinction for 2006 between those which were reported and those which were recognized. It also notes the particular recurrence of five types of occupational disease (diseases affecting the respiratory tract, the spine and the skin, diseases transmitted from animal to man and noise-induced hearing disorders). Among the cases reported, those that were recognized were mostly diseases transmitted from animal to man (223 out of 690). In its 2008 report on the application of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), the Government announced that the reduction in the number and seriousness of skin diseases was one of the objectives relating to occupational safety for the period 2008–12. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would explain the gap between the number of cases of occupational disease reported and the number of cases recognized and indicate the practical measures implemented to reduce the factors at the origin of the most frequent diseases. It requests it to specify whether, and to what extent, the objective for 2008–12 of reducing the number and seriousness of skin diseases has been defined taking into account those diseases which specifically affect agricultural workers and to indicate the measures taken to achieve that objective for the agricultural sector and their impact.
Articles 21, 22 and 24. Frequency of inspections and follow-up. The Committee notes that the number of inspections carried out by the inspection service of the Professional Association for Agriculture decreased from 176,013 in 2004 to 157,371 in 2006 and that, during the same period, the number of fines and warnings resulting from those inspections also decreased significantly. It also notes that, following a noticeable drop between 2004 and 2005, the number of inspections carried out and cases dealt with by the State inspection services has risen and the number of fines and warnings has also increased considerably. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the background to these developments and on the measures to which they have given rise, including their results.
Referring also to its observation under Convention No. 81, the Committee notes the Government’s report and the attached documentation. It requests the Government to provide additional information on the following points.
Articles 7 and 12, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, in the vast majority of "Länder" the responsibility for enforcing the Occupational Safety Act in specific areas of activity has been delegated to specialized institutions ("Berufsgenossenschaften") under section 21(4) of the Protection of Labour Act. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information relating to the scope of the supervisory powers of the central authority of the "Länder" concerned and indicate the manner in which the control of these activities by a central authority in the "Land" continues to be guaranteed.
Articles 26 and 27. The Committee notes with interest the statistics on occupational accidents, diseases, the active population, the number of inspectors and inspections carried out in the agricultural sector by the specialized institutions. The Committee observes however that, according to the Government, not all the "Länder" compile data specifically relating to the agricultural sector on the activities of governmental inspection services and the inspection staff. It would be grateful if the Government would provide consolidated general inspection report on inspection activities in the agricultural sector covering the country as a whole and providing full details, as required by Articles 26 and 27 of the Convention.
The Committee notes the Government's report. Referring to its previous comments (1993), it reminds the Government that it requested information concerning the application of the Convention in the territory of the former GDR and trusts that this information will be supplied in the Government's next report.
It notes that many labour inspection duties lie within the purview of insurance institutions. In the absence of annual inspection reports which are required to be produced, published and communicated to the ILO in conformity with Article 26 of the Convention with the content specified in Article 27(a) to (g), the Committee is not in a position to assess the degree of application of the Convention. For this purpose, it would be grateful if the Government would supply information in particular on the manner in which, in conformity with Article 7(1) and (2), labour inspection is placed under the supervision and control of a central body established at either federal level or at the level of a federated unit. With reference to the Government's report in regard to the 1996 general observation, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply specific information on the manner in which the statistics required by these provisions of the Convention are collected and consolidated at central level so that they can then be used for the purpose of enhancing prevention of occupational accidents and diseases.
Recalling that the preparation, publication and communication to the ILO of the annual inspection reports mentioned above should be placed under the control of a central body as defined by the Convention, the Committee emphasizes again, as it did in paragraph 109 of its 1985 General Survey on labour inspection, that the attachment of inspection systems to a central authority or body facilitates the establishment and application of a uniform inspection policy for the whole of the national territory. It would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the precise distribution of competence in regard to labour inspection in agriculture between the public labour inspection authority and the insurance institutions exercising similar functions as well as the cooperation between their respective inspection bodies. It hopes in addition that in future annual reports on the activities of the inspection services in agriculture will be regularly published and communicated to the ILO.
1. The Committee notes that, as regards the application of the Convention in the territory of the former German Democratic Republic, a temporary inspection system operates involving factory inspection services and accident insurers, pending the reorganization of labour protection laws by the all-German legislature. It trusts the Government will provide full details of such new laws and would be grateful if in the meantime the Government would give further information as to how the Convention is in practice being observed in the Länder in question.
2. As regards Article 16(1)(a) and Articles 26 and 27 of the Convention, the Committee refers to its comments under Convention No. 81, made in 1992.