Chapter VIII. The role of employers' and workers' organisations in inspection

282. The effectiveness of inspection services will be considerably enhanced if supported by concerted action by employers, workers and their representatives. In this respect, it is encouraging to note, from information contained in the reports, that governments pay due regard to this aspect of the question, which was stressed by a trade union organisation. (Endnote 1) The present tendency is to associate employers and workers more closely in the supervision of the measures taken to improve safety and health at the workplace. Thus the professed objective of the working environment Acts of certain Scandinavian countries is to provide a basis for undertakings to solve themselves the working environment problems in co-operation with the occupational organisations and under the supervision of the competent authority. (Endnote 2) The role played by employers' and workers' organisations in the supervision of the application of the social legislation will be examined in the paragraphs which follow; a distinction will be made between forms of simple collaboration and association in the exercise of inspection functions.

I. Collaboration between the labour inspection services and employers, workers and their organisations

283. Under Article 5 of Convention No. 81 and Article 13 of Convention No. 129 the competent authority must make appropriate arrangements to promote collaboration between officials of the labour inspectorate and employers and workers or their organisations. These measures are supplemented by Part II of Recommendation No. 81 and Paragraph 10 of Recommendation No. 133, which advocate as one of the possible forms of collaboration the establishment in undertakings of committees for hygiene and safety or similar bodies including representatives of employers and workers. In addition, Paragraph 6 of Recommendation No. 81 advocates that collaboration between officials of the labour inspectorate and organisations of employers and workers should be facilitated by the organisation of conferences or joint committees, or similar bodies, enabling representatives of the labour inspectorate to establish a dialogue with representatives or organisations of employers and workers.

A. Collaboration within the undertaking

284. Many governments have referred to the establishment of joint safety and health committees in undertakings of a certain size. (Endnote 3) These are, however, found more rarely in agriculture, according to information communicated by certain governments. (Endnote 4) These committees, which in a sense extend the action of the labour inspectorate within the undertaking, exercise permanent supervision over conditions of occupational safety and health and generally participate in improving the prevention of occupational risks. Very often, the establishment of joint committees is provided for by legislation, supplemented by collective bargaining, although they may be established voluntarily in some countries. (Endnote 5) In this respect one government has indicated that an amendment to the Factories Act is under study in order to provide for the constitution of safety committees in undertakings of a certain size. (Endnote 6) Parallel with this, the institution of safety delegates appointed by workers or their organisations has developed to a considerable degree. In a more general way, the legislation of one country provides for the right of workers to supervise, through the intermediary of their representatives, the application of standards relating to the prevention of occupational risks and to promote the search for, and the working out and application of, any measures to protect their health and physical integrity. (Endnote 7)

285. In order to permit the joint health and safety committees and safety delegates to exercise their functions, the law is conferring upon them increasingly extensive powers. The laws of many countries allow the members of committees and/or safety delegates to accompany labour inspectors on their inspection visits. (Endnote 8) This is a particularly important point, since their knowledge of the working environment makes joint committees and safety delegates particularly able to detect certain problems which they may point out to the inspector during his visit. (Endnote 9) For this reason, in countries where the legislation contains no express provisions to this effect, the Committee considers that it would be particularly desirable in practice for inspectors to associate workers' representatives with their inspection visits, (Endnote 10) as far as possible, as provided for in Article 5, paragraph 4, of the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148). (Endnote 11) Moreover, certain national legislations entrust joint committees with the task of investigating serious occupational accidents or diseases which have occurred in the undertaking, for the purpose of proposing the necessary measures to avoid their repetition. (Endnote 12) It is to be presumed that on this occasion the representatives of the safety and health committees will collaborate with the labour inspectors as advocated by Paragraph 5 of Recommendation No. 81. (Endnote 13) One government nevertheless indicated that collaboration during investigations, and particularly during inquiries into occupational accidents and diseases, was not possible given the state of its legislation. (Endnote 14)

286. In certain Scandinavian countries a particularly important right of safety delegates deserves special mention. Delegates have the power to order work to be stopped when they consider that there is an immediate danger to the life and health of workers which cannot be avoided in another way, until the labour inspectorate has taken a decision on the question. (Endnote 15) In another country, where the worker may refuse to perform an act which he has reasonable grounds to believe may have particularly serious effects on his health or safety or on that of any other person at the workplace concerned, a representative of the workers' members of the safety and health committee has the right to be present during the investigation conducted to determine whether the worker's refusal was justified. (Endnote 16)

287. These various examples are characteristic of a trend to associate workers and their representatives more closely in the supervision of safety and health measures at the workplace.

288. In order to promote the activities of the joint safety and health committees the law often provides for the intervention of labour inspectors in their operation. Thus, inspectors must be kept informed of the establishment of all committees. (Endnote 17) They may in certain circumstances order a committee to be set up in establishments where the number of workers is less than the prescribed minimum. (Endnote 18) Certain laws provide for the right of inspectors to attend meetings of committees. (Endnote 19) Elsewhere, the reports of these meetings must be communicated to the inspectorate or made available to it. (Endnote 20) An analogous obligation is sometimes also provided for regarding the committee's annual report on its activities. (Endnote 21) In any case, experience has shown that, when safety and health committees work well, collaboration with the labour inspection services is a current practice.

289. The effectiveness of joint safety and health committees rests mainly on the qualifications of their members. The same goes for safety delegates. For this reason, Article 19(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), provides that there shall be arrangements at the level of the undertaking under which workers and their representatives in the undertaking are given appropriate training in occupational safety and health. Certain national laws contain provisions to this effect which often serve as a basis for the conclusion of collective agreements. (Endnote 22) Under one of these agreements, training must be given at the employer's cost and during work hours; it includes a basic working environment course of 40 hours. (Endnote 23)

290. The complexity of working environment problems has led undertakings in certain countries to have recourse to the establishment of works medical services and occupational safety departments or responsible specialists. It is obvious that when such institutions develop they are called upon to collaborate closely with the inspection services.

291. The collaboration of the inspection services with workers' representatives is not confined to occupational safety and health questions. In many countries the legislation provides for the institution of trade union delegates and other staff representatives within the undertaking with special responsibility for conditions of employment and work. These staff representatives are responsible for submitting to the labour inspectorate complaints and observations relating to the application of the provisions of laws and regulations. (Endnote 24) As in the case of members of safety and health committees, the legislation often lays down the obligation, or at least the right, of inspectors to be accompanied by staff representatives on their visits. (Endnote 25)

B. Collaboration outside the undertaking

292. Outside the undertaking collaboration will often be on an informal basis, it being customary for employers and workers or their organisations in certain countries to consult the labour inspection services on their problems. But collaboration may also be subject to appropriate arrangements, such as those mentioned in Paragraph 6 of Recommendation No. 81. Many governments have in fact referred to the existence of joint or tripartite committees at the national, regional or local level, with more or less general competence for labour (for example, labour advisory councils, higher councils for labour and employment, higher councils for the prevention of occupational risks, national safety and health committees, etc.), within which the labour inspectorate is able to establish contacts with the occupational associations. (Endnote 26) Another government has indicated that the inspection services organise periodical meetings with organisations of employers and workers with a view to discussing questions or problems falling within their competence. (Endnote 27) Moreover, in the same country, the central labour inspection service organises, in addition to certain meetings on specific questions, a conference of labour inspection bureaux, which is held every two years and to which representatives of employers' and workers' organisations are also invited. In another country, representatives of workers and employers participate in the work of the committee which gives its advice on application for approval submitted by bodies which wish to be entrusted with certain special kinds of technical supervision. (Endnote 28)

II. Association of workers in the exercise of inspection functions

293. As already mentioned, trade unions, particularly those in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, are closely associated with the exercise of inspection functions. Their action is generally at two levels. In many of these countries the state inspectorate is paralleled by a labour inspectorate administered by the trade unions. (Endnote 29) The latter exercises a major responsibility in the field of occupational safety. The activities of the state supervisory bodies and the trade unions are supplemented at the level of the undertaking by the action of social inspectors appointed by the staff of the undertaking and by the action of labour protection committees set up by trade union committees. In this respect one government (Endnote 30) has indicated that the social supervisory organs of the trade unions have, among other things, the right to supervise the manner in which the undertakings fulfil their obligations regarding occupational safety and health, and to make regular inspections of the workplaces and installations. Moreover, these bodies have powers to verify whether undertakings make investigations of occupational accidents and to participate in investigating the causes of such accidents and of occupational diseases, by making investigations themselves in appropriate cases. In order to perform their task effectively these organs may invite undertakings, by means of instructions of a binding nature, to make good shortcomings existing in the operation of machinery and equipment and, in the event of imminent danger, to order a stoppage of work. The measure taken by the social supervisory organs may, at the request of the undertaking, be subject to examination by the State Labour Safety Inspectorate; however, they remain in force until a decision has been taken.

294. The system of the socialist countries in Eastern Europe is perhaps one of the most striking examples of the association of workers in the exercise of inspection functions. But there are other forms. Thus, in one country, controllers appointed by the Minister of Labour from among manual workers and employees on the proposal of the most representative trade union organisations may be incorporated into the permanent labour inspection staff after an initial trial period of three years. (Endnote 31) One government mentioned the temporary incorporation of workers' delegates into the mining inspectorate as an example of collaboration which has proved highly fruitful in practice. (Endnote 32) Their experience in mining work gives these workers' delegates, who are appointed for a period of four years renewable on the proposal of the trade union organisations, the ability to make an effective contribution to the activities of the mining engineers under whom they work. One of the main characteristics of this institution lies in the authority of the workers' delegates, in the event of imminent danger and after discussion with the management or its representatives, to order measures with immediate effect including the evacuation of the danger area. The engineer of the mining service, who must be warned as early as possible, has 24 hours in which to give his opinion on the decision taken. (Endnote 33)

295. Finally, it should be noted that in several countries the body responsible for occupational safety and health policy comprises representatives of employers' and workers' organisations, who are thus able to exert direct influence on the activities of the labour inspectorate. (Endnote 34) In certain Nordic countries this participation takes place at both the central and the local levels. (Endnote 35) At the central level the directorate of the labour inspection service is controlled by a central labour inspection council comprising representatives of employers' and workers' organisations. At the local level, a labour inspection council is established for each inspection district. Within limits fixed by the central inspection council, the district councils are competent to take decisions concerning the planning and organisation of labour in the district. Systems with certain variants exist in other countries of the region. (Endnote 36) Elsewhere, workers' and employers' organisations can influence the activities of the labour inspection service through their representatives on a consultative body. (Endnote 37)

Endnotes

Endnote 2

Endnote 3

Endnote 4

Endnote 5

Endnote 6

Endnote 7

Endnote 8

Endnote 9

Endnote 10

Endnote 11

Endnote 12

Endnote 13

Endnote 14

Endnote 15

Endnote 16

Endnote 17

Endnote 18

Endnote 19

Endnote 20

Endnote 21

Endnote 22

Endnote 23

Endnote 24

Endnote 26

Endnote 27

Endnote 28

Endnote 29

Endnote 30

Endnote 31

Endnote 32

Endnote 33

Endnote 34

Endnote 35

Endnote 36

Endnote 37

Cross references
Constitution: Article 19
Constitution: Article 22
Constitution: Article 35
Conventions: C155 Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981