The Governing Body took note of the report of the Officers concerning the fourth meeting of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM TWG) and, in approving its recommendations:

(a) welcomed the commencement, by the SRM TWG, of the crucially important discussion of its institutional implications with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of its process, and looks forward to continuing to receive updates from the SRM TWG in relation to its ongoing consideration of how to ensure follow-up to the SRM TWG is implemented as a matter of institutional priority, and how to ensure coherence and consistency in the standards policy framework in relation to occupational safety and health (OSH) instruments;

(b) decided that the nine instruments concerning OSH (general provisions and specific risks) reviewed by the SRM TWG should be considered to have the classifications it has recommended, and requests the Office to take the necessary follow-up action in that regard;

(c) called upon the Organization and its tripartite constituents to take appropriate measures to follow up on its recommendations relating to standard setting as well as to the time-bound element of all recommendations resulting from its review of standards, including follow-up action involving abrogation and withdrawal of outdated standards, giving due consideration to the availability of technical assistance to encourage ratification of up-to-date instruments;

(d) requested the Office to commence work on a study on gender equality in the mining sector, a revision of the 1992 Code of practice on safety and health in construction, the development of guidelines on the general principles in the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), and the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), and requested the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) to call on member States currently bound by the Convention concerning Statistics of Wages and Hours of Work, 1938 (No. 63), to consider ratification of Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (No. 160);

(e) noted the SRM TWG’s intention to monitor the implementation of its recommendations to promote ratification of certain instruments at its own future meetings, as well as to monitor progress in relation to the ratification of the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176) and the study concerning gender equality in the mining sector within the context of the labour protection recurrent discussion that would take place in 2022;

(f) noted the SRM TWG’s recommendations concerning the abrogation and withdrawal of certain instruments, in relation to which it will consider (see GB.334/INS/2):

(i) placing on the agenda of the 111th Session (2022) of the International Labour Conference an item concerning the withdrawal of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1923 (No. 20); and

(ii) placing on the agenda of the 113th Session (2024) of the International Labour Conference an item concerning the abrogation of the Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45), the Safety Provisions (Building) Convention, 1937 (No. 62), the Convention concerning Statistics of Wages and Hours of Work, 1938 (No. 63), and the Labour Inspectorates (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 85);

(g) noted the work undertaken by the Office in follow-up to the recommendations of the SRM TWG at its second and third meetings and requested the Office to continue this follow-up as planned;

(h) decided that the SRM TWG would examine the nine instruments concerning employment policy (eight instruments and one outdated instrument), within sets of instruments 1 and 4 of the revised initial programme of work, in its fifth meeting; and

(i) decided to convene the fifth meeting of the SRM TWG from 23 to 27 September 2019.

(GB.334/LILS/3, paragraph 5.)