Preamble
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Forty-ninth Session on 2 June 1965, and
Noting the terms of existing international labour Conventions and Recommendations, applicable to mines, which contain provisions on the conditions of employment of young persons, and
Considering that additional standards are called for in certain respects, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals regarding the conditions of employment of young persons underground in mines, which is included in the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a Recommendation,
adopts this twenty-third day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred sixty-five, the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Conditions of Employment of Young Persons (Underground Work) Recommendation, 1965:
I. Definition
- 1.
- (1) For the purpose of this Recommendation, the term mine means any undertaking, whether public or private, for the extraction of any substance from under the surface of the earth by means involving the employment of persons underground.
- (2) The provisions of this Recommendation concerning employment or work underground in mines include employment or work underground in quarries.
II. Methods of Implementation
- 2. Effect may be given to this Recommendation through national laws or regulations, collective agreements, arbitration awards, or court decisions or in such other manner consistent with national practice as may be appropriate under national conditions.
III. Health, Safety and Welfare
- 3. Training programmes for young persons employed or to be employed underground in mines should include practical and theoretical instruction in the health and safety hazards to which workers in mines are exposed, in hygiene and first aid, and in the precautions to be taken to safeguard health and safety. Such instruction should be provided by persons who are qualified in these fields.
- 4. The employer should be required to inform a young person, both when engaging him and when giving him a specific job underground, of the risks of accident and hazards to health involved in the work, of protective measures and equipment, of regulations regarding safety, and of first-aid methods. The directions should be repeated at appropriate intervals.
- 5.
- (1) Officials in charge of safety, safety delegates, safety and health committees and all other internal bodies concerned with safety and health, as well as the national inspection service, should give particular attention to measures designed to safeguard the life and health of young persons employed or working underground in mines.
- (2) Such measures should include provision for the development of a practical safety programme for each mine including--
- (a) action to ensure prevention and correction of hazardous environmental and physical conditions;
- (b) appropriate means and facilities for training, inspection and accident investigation and prevention;
- (c) the initial supply and replacement after normal wear and tear, at the employers' expense, of such protective clothing and equipment as are necessary in view of the nature of the work and the conditions in which it is performed, the young persons being required to use the clothing and equipment supplied; and
- (d) any other measures for the safety and health of young persons.
- 6. With a view to keeping young persons employed or working underground in mines in good health and to promoting their normal physical development, measures should be taken which aim, in particular, at--
- (a) encouraging recreational activities, including sports;
- (b) ensuring that changing-rooms and showers meeting approved hygiene standards are made available, changing-rooms and showers separate from those for adults being, where possible, reserved for persons under 18 years of age; and
- (c) ensuring that, if circumstances so require, young persons have at their disposal such additional food and such feeding facilities as would enable them to secure a diet suitable to their stage of development.
IV. Weekly Rest and Annual Holidays with Pay
- 7. Persons under 18 years of age employed or working underground in mines should be entitled to an uninterrupted weekly rest which should not be less than 36 hours in the course of each period of seven days.
- 8. The weekly rest period should be progressively extended, with a view to attaining at least 48 hours.
- 9. The weekly rest period should include the day of the week established as a day of rest by the traditions or customs of the country or district.
- 10. Persons under 18 years of age employed or working underground in mines should not be employed on any work during the weekly rest period.
- 11.
- (1) Persons under 18 years of age employed or working underground in mines should receive an annual holiday with pay of not less than 24 working days (corresponding to four working weeks) for 12 months of service.
- (2) Public and customary holidays and interruptions of attendance at work due to sickness should not be included in the annual holiday with pay.
- 12.
- (1) The employer should be required to keep, and make available to inspectors, records indicating in respect of persons under 18 years of age employed or working underground--
- (a) the date of birth, duly certified wherever possible;
- (b) the periods of weekly rest; and
- (c) the periods of holidays with pay.
- (2) The employer should make available to the workers' representatives, at their request, the information mentioned in subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph.
V. Training
- 13. In line with the principles set forth in the Vocational Training Recommendation, 1962, the competent authorities should take the necessary measures to ensure that young persons employed or to be employed underground in mines--
- (a) receive systematic vocational training, through apprenticeship or other forms of training appropriate in the national circumstances, in order to ensure adequate preparation for the particular type of work in which they are to be engaged;
- (b) enjoy suitable opportunities for further technical training enabling them to develop their occupational capacities without detriment to their health and welfare, account being taken of national circumstances; and
- (c) are provided with suitable opportunities for further education and training above ground with a view to ensuring their future adaptation to technological change in the mining industry and to developing their human capacities.
VI. Consultation
- 14. The competent authority in each country should consult the most representative organisations of employers and workers concerned before determining general policies of implementation and before adopting regulations in pursuance of the terms of this Recommendation.
