Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Hungary (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee notes the reports of the Government for the period ending 31 May 1997.

1. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the following Articles of the Convention.

Article 5, paragraph (a), of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific arrangements made by the competent authority in order to promote effective cooperation between the inspection services and other government services and public or private institutions engaged in similar activities.

Article 5, paragraph (b). Please indicate other arrangements, in addition to those mentioned in the report, made by the competent authority in order to promote collaboration between officials of the labour inspectorate and employers and workers or their organizations.

Article 10. The Committee notes the indication of the Government's report that labour inspectorates in the counties employed 326 inspectors, and this number was expected to rise to 425 by 31 December 1997; and that the number of inspectors in the National Labour Inspectorate ("OMMF") across the country totalled 220 in 1996. The Committee recalls the indication in the Government's report under Convention No. 129 for the period from 31 May 1996 to 31 August 1998, that on 1 January 1998 a total of 388 labour safety and labour inspectors were conducting inspections, out of whom 61 were women. The Committee asks the Government to indicate: (i) the total number of labour inspectors in Hungary; (ii) their distribution among different inspection services and different counties; and (iii) the measures taken or envisaged in order to increase the number of labour inspectors.

Article 16. Please indicate what measures have been undertaken or are envisaged in order to increase the frequency of inspection visits.

Article 21. Please indicate what measures have been undertaken or are envisaged in order to include the statistics of occupational diseases in the annual general reports on the work of the labour inspection in the Republic of Hungary.

2. The Committee also requests the Government to provide further information on the following points:

Article 2, paragraph 2. Please indicate whether the mining undertakings subject to the inspection of the National Mining Authority, in respect of the matters not related to safety and health, are also subject to the general inspection exercised by OMMF.

Article 3, paragraph 1(b). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the practical application of this provision and on the respective activities of the National Public Health and Medical Officer's Service ("ANTSZ").

Article 3, paragraph 1(c). Please indicate whether OMMF shall bring to the notice of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions.

Article 3, paragraph 2. Please indicate the measures that have been undertaken or are envisaged in order to ensure that additional duties entrusted to ANTSZ do not interfere with the effective discharge of its primary duties related to occupational health/occupational hygiene.

Article 6. Please provide the description of the status and conditions of service of the officials of the inspection staff and indicate how they are assured of stability of employment, of independence of changes of government and of improper external influences.

Article 9. Please indicate the measures undertaken or envisaged by the Government in order to ensure that duly qualified outside technical experts and specialists, who are not members of the inspection staff, are associated with the work of inspection.

Article 15, paragraph (a). Please indicate whether the national legislation prohibits labour inspectors from having other types of interests in the undertakings under their supervision (e.g. ownership interest, interest based on family relations, etc.), in addition to those mentioned in the report, and what procedure shall be followed by the labour inspector in case of existence of any such interest (disclosure of existence of interest, refrain from conduct of inspection, etc).

Article 15, paragraph (b). The Committee asks the Government to indicate the duration of the duty of labour inspectors not to reveal any manufacturing or commercial secrets or working process after leaving the labour inspection service.

Article 15, paragraph (c). Please indicate what kind of protection the person bringing to the notice of labour inspection a defect or breach of legal provision is entitled to under Act I of 1977 on Reports and Complaints in Public Interest and what are the duties of the labour inspectors in respect of preserving the confidentiality of the source of such complaint.

Article 16. Please indicate the total number of inspection visits conducted by county and capital city labour inspections within county and capital city labour centres.

Article 27. The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether under the legislation the arbitration awards and collective agreements are among the legal provisions enforceable by labour inspectors.

3. The Committee asks the Government to provide clarification in respect of the following:

Article 8. Please indicate whether any special duties are assigned to men and women inspectors.

Article 11, paragraph 1(a). The Committee asks the Government to provide the specific information in respect of the number of local offices, their equipment and accessibility to all persons concerned.

Article 11, paragraph 1(b). Please indicate the total number of the office cars at the disposal of OMMF, their geographical distribution and the average number of inspectors per car.

Article 11, paragraph 2. Please indicate the specific arrangements made in order to reimburse to labour inspectors any travelling and incidental expenses which may be necessary for the performance of their duties and provide information on the amount and the procedure of reimbursement in case of use by labour inspectors of their own vehicles.

Article 12, paragraph 1(a). The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether labour inspectors are empowered to enter workplaces freely at any hour of the day or night.

Article 12, paragraph 1(b). Please indicate under which provision of the national legislation the labour inspectors are empowered to enter by day any premises which they may have reasonable cause to believe to be liable to inspection.

Article 12, paragraph 1(c)(i). Please indicate under which provision of the national legislation labour inspectors are empowered to interrogate, alone or in the presence of witnesses, the employer or the staff of the undertaking on any matters concerning the application of the legal provisions.

Article 12, paragraph 1(c)(ii). Please indicate under which provision of the national legislation labour inspectors are empowered to require the production of any books, registers or other documents the keeping of which is prescribed by national laws or regulations relating to conditions of work, and to copy such documents or make extracts from them.

Article 12, paragraph 1(c)(iii). Please indicate under which provision of the national legislation labour inspectors are empowered to enforce the posting of notices required by the legal provisions.

Article 12, paragraph 1(c)(iv). Please indicate under which provision of the national legislation labour inspectors are empowered to take or remove for purposes of analysis samples of materials and substances used or handled.

Article 14. The Committee asks the Government to describe the procedure of notification of OMMF and ANTSZ of industrial accidents (period of notification, amount of presented information, etc.) as well as indication of the cases in which it shall be notified of occupational diseases and description of the procedure of such notification.

Article 20, paragraph 1. The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether the 1996 annual general report, transmitted by it, was officially published, and what is the procedure for access to such report by an interested party.

Article 20, paragraph 2. Please indicate the time-limits for the publication of the annual general report.

4. The Committee notes the Government's indication in its report that employers and workers have expressed the opinion that the national supervision of occupational health and safety should be performed by one single body in order to ensure efficient enforcement of the provisions of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide any comments it deems appropriate in response to the employers' and workers' organizations' observations.