Introduction

Background to the survey

1. In accordance with article 19 of the Constitution of the ILO, the Governing Body decided at its 231st Session (November 1985) to request governments to report on the Guarding of Machinery Convention (No. 119) and Recommendation (No. 118), 1963, and on the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention (No. 148) and Recommendation (No. 156), 1977. The reports thus supplied by States which have not ratified the above-mentioned Conventions and by all States on the corresponding Recommendations, together with those submitted in accordance with article 22 of the ILO Constitution by States which have ratified the Conventions in question, have enabled to Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, in accordance with its usual practice, to make a general survey of the situation as regards implementation of the instruments.

2. This survey is the first one carried out by the Committee on these instruments since they were adopted. In fact, it is the first time that the Committee has had the opportunity to examine in a general survey questions relating to the development of the legislation and practice of member States in the field of occupational safety and health in relation to fundamental ILO standards in that area. The only other occasion when the Committee dealt with similar questions was in 1969 when it carried out a survey on, among other instruments, two Recommendations concerning Protection of Workers' Health, 1953 (No. 97) and Occupational Health Services, 1959 (No. 112).

3. The instruments examined in the present survey were included in the category of instruments to be promoted on a priority basis by the Governing Body of the ILO as the outcome of its in-depth review of international labour standards in 1979. (Endnote 1) Their place among priority instruments was confirmed by the Working Party on International Labour Standards established in 1985, which was entrusted with the task of reviewing the classification of existing Conventions and Recommendations and possible subjects for new standards. (Endnote 2)

Information available

4. Through the reports on the Conventions concerned submitted by ratifying and non-ratifying countries, and the reports on the relevant Recommendations, information has been made available in respect of 115 States and 8 non-metropolitan territories. The total number of reports supplied under article 19 is 76 in respect of the Guarding of Machinery Convention (No. 119), 1963, 99 in respect of the Guarding of Machinery Recommendation (No. 118), 84 in respect of the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention (No. 148), 1977, and 98 in respect of the Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Recommendation (No. 156). Appendix II gives detailed information on the countries that have communicated reports. In addition, the Committee has examined the information in reports supplied by governments on a number of other Conventions under article 22 of the Constitution, in particular those dealing with occupational safety and health. The Committee has taken into account the few observations received from employers' and workers' organisations to which the governments' reports have been communicated in accordance with article 23, paragraph 2 of the ILO Constitution. As usual, the Committee has endeavoured to take due account of relevant legislation and national practices (particularly collective agreements, where available). On the whole, the information available has permitted a comprehensive assessment to be made of the situation.

5. The nature and extent of the information provided varies greatly from one report to another. In addition, some countries which have ratified the Conventions concerned did not communicate reports under article 19 on the accompanying Recommendations, so the Committee possesses no information on their implementation in these countries. Although some of the reports which were received are very full, giving a detailed account of the legal provisions dealing with the points covered in the surveyed instruments and also outlining the practical measures taken with regard to protection against existing occupational hazards, a large proportion of the reports tended to be so brief or so general that the Committee has had considerable difficulty in drawing conclusions about the situation in the countries concerned. In these circumstances, the Committee has attempted to supplement the information communicated by governments so that the present survey can give a fuller account of the way in which the principles set forth in the selected instruments are applied.

Ratifications -- prospects and difficulties

6. A number of countries stated their intentions and provided explanations of the difficulties involved as concerns these instruments. The Government of France, for instance, indicated that ratification of Convention No. 119 is prevented by difficulties connected with the extension of the legislation to cover mobile agricultural machinery and providing for obligations on workers in connection with the safe use of machinery. A number of divergences between the national legislation and the provisions of the Convention and which would require changes in the legislation, were noted in the report of the United Kingdom. The Government stated in its report, however, that employers' and workers' representatives sitting in the Health and Safety Commission agreed with the existing policy and legislation on guarding of machinery and considered that there was no need for major changes. In Belgium the difficulties connected with the application of Convention No. 119 are that the national legislation does not concern the sale, hire, transfer and exhibition of dangerous machinery and does not provide for consultation of employers' and workers' organisations prior to the adoption of any new legal provisions on this subject. In Greece the ratification of the Convention is prevented by the fact that the national legislation does not place obligations on persons who sell, hire or transfer machinery or on their respective agents. The Government of Luxembourg stated that supervision of the application of Part II of Convention No. 119 on the sale, hire, transfer and exhibition of unguarded machinery would be very difficult. Also referring to difficulties connected with the application of the Convention, the Government of Mauritius stated that consideration will be given to implementing some of the provisions of the instruments on the guarding of machinery in the process of preparation of new legislation on occupational safety, with the assistance of the ILO. The Government of Chile, on the other hand, considers its legislation sufficint to apply Convention No. 119 as well as Convention No. 148 but does not deem it necessary to ratify them.

7. The Government of Côte d'Ivoire pointed to the conformity of its legislation with Convention No. 119, and saw no difficulty in ratifying it. Non-ratification of this Convention by Gabon, as explained by the Government, is due neither to any legislative difficulties, nor to the absence of the practical measures of application, and the decision as to the ratification will be taken in due time. The Government of Iraq which has indicated that the Convention and Recommendation on the guarding of machinery were studied by the competent legislative authority, has since ratified the Convention. In Austria, in view of the fact that the draft General Machines and Appliances Safety Ordinance is expected to be adopted soon, the Austrian Chamber of Workers recommends that steps be taken immediately to ratify Convention No. 119. Commenting on this in its report, the Government stated that when the Ordinance in question enters into effect (probably on 1 January 1988), the ratification of this Convention will be examined once again. The Government of China also indicated in its report that after the adoption of recent measures it is considering the possibility of ratification of both Conventions.

8. As concerns Convention No. 148, a number of governments referred to the progressive development of their legislation, but indicated that it still falls short of the requirements of the Convention. The Government of Belgium, for example, stated that among the difficulties that prevent the ratification of the Convention, was the lack of statutorily prescribed exposure limits to noise that would oblige the employer to reduce the noise level at its source and regulate the use of protective equipment. Also no provisions exist as to the duty of two or more employers at one workplace to collaborate in ensuring safety of their employees, and in practice no such collaboration usually takes place. The Government of Japan states that a medical opinion on the relationship between the exposure level and the occurrence of industrial injury has yet to be established, adding that the measurement and assessment of the degree of exposure for individuals are difficult. Another difficulty is that there are no provisions pertaining to the prohibition or limitation of the use of processes, substances, machines or equipment on the ground that it may cause danger or injury to workers due to air pollution, noise and vibration. A number of provisions of the Convention, in the opinion of the Luxembourg Government, are very difficult to transfer into the context of the national legislation. The Government of Kuwait stated that under the national inspection procedures, workers' representatives do not have the right to accompany the labour inspector during his visit, as is provided in Article 5, paragraph 7, of Convention No. 148. Stressing its desire to develop the national legislation in harmony with ILO instruments, it refers to a draft amendment of the Labour Code for the private sector which would fill in gaps in the national legislation. The Government of Cyprus stated that national legislation does not cover all the matters dealt with in the Convention, and that other priorities have been set at present with respect to ratification f the international labour Conventions, in particular the Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (No. 152) and the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155).

9. The Government of Egypt, however, does not see any difficulties that might prevent the ratification of Convention No. 148. The Government of Algeria stated that it proposes to ratify the Convention without delay and that in practice the provisions of the Convention are already widely referred to in preparing new legislation and regulations on occupational safety and health. The Governments of the Democratic Republic of Yemen and San Marino also stated in their reports that they intend to ratify Convention No. 148.

Arrangement of the survey

10. The survey is divided into three principal parts. The first, concerning Convention No. 119 and Recommendation No. 118, begins by examining the scope of these instruments. It goes on to examine measures concerning manufacture, sale, hire, transfer in any other manner and exhibition of machinery, followed by a section on safety in the use of machinery. A fourth section examines exceptions allowed under these instruments.

11. The second part of the survey deals with Convention No. 148 and Recommendation No. 156, examining their scope, general measures of application, criteria for exposure limits, preventive and protective measures, and supervision of the health of workers. Because of the structure of these instruments, the various sections of this part are sometimes divided into subsections dealing separately with air pollution, noise and vibration.

12. In a third part, the survey deals with subjects which all the above-mentioned instruments have in common: the role of employers' and workers' organisations, information and training of workers, and measures of application.

13. Finally, the Committee draws certain conclusions from its examination of the reports and information available. For easy reference, the operative provisions of the Conventions and Recommendations concerned are included in Appendix III to the survey.

14. A word should also be added on the method used to indicate in footnotes the provisions of national legislation cited. In Appendix I the Committee lists all the legislation cited and assigns a number to each item. In the footnotes these are indicated thus: Algeria 2, section 16. This diminishes the very considerable volume of citations and simplifies reading the text.

Endnotes

Endnote 2

Cross references
Constitution: Article 19
Constitution: Article 22
Constitution: Article 35
Conventions: C152 Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979
Conventions: C155 Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981
Recommendations:R097 Protection of Workers' Health Recommendation, 1953
Recommendations:R112 Occupational Health Recommendation, 1959