Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

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

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the replies to its previous comments.

1. Article 14 of the Convention. Notification of cases of occupational disease. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that cases of occupational disease are notified to the labour inspectorate in due time. It notes with interest that the inspection services are promoting active cooperation among the agencies engaged in similar activities. It hopes that the relevant information and technical advice will be provided to employers and workers, as well as medical personnel in general, to raise awareness of the issue and it requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any development in this respect and to provide a copy of any relevant legal provision, administrative instruction, circular or form, as well as the statistics obtained as soon as they are available.

2. Article 13. Powers of injunction of labour inspectors. The Committee notes the Government’s commitment to make every effort to adopt as quickly as possible the draft legislation providing labour inspectors with the powers of injunction envisaged by the Convention in situations of danger to the health or safety of workers. It trusts that information reporting the harmonization of the legislation with the Convention on this central aspect of the preventive role of inspection will be provided with the next report.

3. Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report; statistics of violations and penalties imposed (Article 21(d) and (e)). With reference to its previous comments concerning the absence of the above information in the annual Statistical Bulletin published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, this shortcoming is explained by the fact that the Department always attempts to use persuasion first to achieve compliance by enterprises, and that when this fails cases are referred to the courts. It nevertheless notes the provision by the Government of relevant annual statistics for the period 2000-06 on occupational safety and health. However, such statistics cannot be usefully exploited for the purposes of prevention or the reorientation of inspection activities based on the most common violations and those giving rise to the most serious occupational hazards. Moreover, the Committee reminds the Government that the statistics of violations and the penalties imposed required by Article 21 of the Convention are not confined to the field of safety and health, but must cover all the fields of legislation within the competence of the labour inspectorate. It is therefore necessary for measures to be taken to promote effective cooperation between the inspection services and other government services or public institutions responsible for investigating and penalizing infringements with a view to establishing a procedure for the communication of the relevant information. The central inspection authority would thereby be able to include them in the annual report on its activities, evaluate the effectiveness of the inspection activities in relation to their objectives and take measures to improve them. The Committee reminds the Government of the value of referring to Part IV of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), on the manner in which the required statistics can be presented in the annual report. The Government is requested to take the necessary measures for the development of an appropriate system for the collection of statistics for the purposes of the Convention and to keep the Office informed of any progress in this respect. It would also be grateful if it would ensure that the annual report on the activities of the labour inspection services is communicated to the ILO within the required time limits.