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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Portugal (Ratification: 1962)

1. With reference to its observation on the Convention, the Committee notes that the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) expresses doubts concerning the autonomy and independence of the labour inspectorate (IGT) following its integration into the Institute for the Development and Inspection of Working Conditions (IDICT). For its part, the Government considers that its autonomy and independence are guaranteed, particularly by the conditions of service of the officials and the exclusive competence of the IGT in the field of supervision. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the resources in terms of offices and transport facilities made available exclusively to labour inspectors to enable them to discharge their functions in full independence (Article 11 of the Convention).

2. The Committee notes the Government's statement that cases of occupational disease are dealt with by the National Centre for Protection against Occupational Risks, whose medical personnel make the diagnosis and notify these cases to the Institute for the Development and Inspection of Working Conditions. The labour inspectorate also receives annual reports of the prevention services of enterprises (section 24 of Legislative Decree No. 26/94). With reference to paragraphs 86 and 87 of its General Survey on labour inspection, the Committee recalls that notifying the labour inspectorate is not an end in itself, but part of the more general aim of preventing work-related accidents. Its purpose is to enable the labour inspectors to conduct investigations in the enterprise to establish the causes of work-related accidents and occupational diseases and to take measures to avoid their recurrence. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the legal time-limit for notifying the labour inspectorate of a work-related accident or an occupational disease (Article 14).