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Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176) - Zambia (RATIFICATION: 1999)

Article 13 of the Convention. Rights of workers and their safety and health representatives. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that legislative effect is given to some of the provisions of this Article, but that other provisions are not implemented due to the absence of legislation. It also notes the indication that with regard to paragraph 2(b)(i), worker representatives can only participate in inspections and investigations which follow the occurrence of accidents or dangerous occurrences, and, contrary to paragraph 2(b)(ii), worker representatives do not have the right to monitor and investigate safety and health matters. In this regard, the Committee wishes to remind the Government that, under the terms of Article 13 of the Convention, national laws and regulations must grant the rights referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 to workers and the safety and health representatives they collectively select and, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 13, must ensure that these rights can be exercised without discrimination or retaliation. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures, in law and in practice, to ensure that effect is given to all of the provisions of Article 13 of the Convention. In the meantime, the Government is requested to ensure the application in practice of this Article and to provide detailed information on the measures taken in this regard.

Article 15. Cooperation between employers and workers. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that no legislation on mines gives effect to this provision of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures, in accordance with national laws or regulations, to encourage cooperation between employers and workers and their representatives to promote safety and health in mines.

Furthermore, concerning the issues raised by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in its 1 September 2014 observations, the Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide a reply and it is therefore bound to reiterate part of its previous comment, which reads as follows:

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2014, in which the ITUC indicates that Chinese-operated copper mining companies continuously violate health and safety regulations designed to protect workers. More specifically, workers are often exposed to poor working conditions and are not provided with adequate protective equipment, often leading to the development of serious occupational diseases and the occurrence of grave accidents in mines. It also alleges the violation of the rights of workers enumerated in Article 13 of the Convention, including the right to report accidents, dangerous occurrences and hazards to the employer and to the competent authority and the right to remove themselves in cases where their lives or health is threatened, in addition to the fact that workers who refuse to work in unsafe places are threatened with the termination or transfer of their employment if they exercise these rights. The ITUC also indicates that the efforts put forward by the Government to improve safety standards in mines are extremely limited and insufficient, with almost no inspections being conducted by the Mines and Safety Department and that governmental statistics on mining accidents are unrepresentative since companies deliberately under report accidents and other dangerous occurrences in order to avoid fines. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments on the issues raised by the ITUC.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2016.]