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

Guarding of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119) - Latvia (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which read as follows:

Referring to its previous comments, the Committee recalls the observation made by the Free Trade Union Federation of Latvia (LBAS) alleging that the Convention was only partly applied because of the use of obsolete machines, and pointing out the high risk of accident to which employees are exposed using such machines. The Committee recalls that under Article 1 of the Convention, the Convention applies to all power-driven machinery, new or second-hand. With respect to all such machinery, Articles 2 and 6 prohibit the sale, hire, exhibition and transfer in any other manner, as well as the use of machinery if their dangerous parts specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 2 are without appropriate guards or are not protected by other equally effective measures. The obligation to ensure compliance with the above-mentioned provisions rests, in accordance with Articles 4 and 7, on the vendor, the exhibitor, the person letting out on hire or transferring the machinery in any other manner, the manufacturer when he sells machinery, lets it out on hire, transfers it in any other manner or exhibits it, on their respective agents, when appropriate under national laws or regulations, and on the employer. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to apply the above-mentioned provisions of the Convention to all categories of power-driven machinery, including those which are obsolete but still used. Please supply the English translation (if available) of the national legislation referred to in the Government's first report giving effect to the Convention with respect to all categories of machinery.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.