Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Belize (Ratification: 1983)

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

Publication of an annual inspection report. The Committee notes that no annual report containing information on the activities of the inspection services has been transmitted since the report of the Labour Department for 1990. With reference to paragraphs 272 and 273 of its 1985 General Survey on labour inspection, it emphasizes once again the importance that it attaches to the publication of an annual report, the form and the content of which are determined in Articles 20 and 21. The application of the legislation concerning conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work can only be improved if precise data are available on the subjects enumerated in Article 21(a) to (g). The collection of this information requires the competent inspection services to comply with the obligation of periodical reporting established in Article 19. The publication of annual reports prepared by the competent central authority on the basis of these periodical reports offers the social partners the opportunity to express their views on the manner in which the application of the relevant legislation is supervised and allows the Government to guide its activities in relation to its priorities, taking into account the available resources. However, the Committee notes that one of the fundamental types of data necessary for such an exercise, mainly the number of workplaces liable to inspection, is not available, since the legislation concerning the registration of industrial and commercial enterprises is not applied. The Committee cannot recommend the Government too strongly to ensure that the registration of workplaces and the workers employed therein is carried out rapidly. It hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide information on the results of this operation in its next report and to ensure the proper application of Article 21 in the near future.

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