Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167) - Lesotho (Ratification: 1998)

The Committee notes the responses provided by the Government in its latest report, including information on further effect given to Article 13 of the Convention. The Committee notes with interest the ongoing efforts by the Government to bring national law and practice in line with the provisions of the Convention. It notes that the Government intends, inter alia, through a proposed revision of the Labour Code, to give effect to Articles 1(3), 5, 7 and 11, and that the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) will address a number of other issues raised by the Committee in its comments. The Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of any results of its efforts to give effect to the Convention and to provide copies of any legislative amendments as soon as they have been adopted.

Articles 6 and 10. Cooperation between employers and workers, and the right and duty of workers to participate in ensuring safe working conditions. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government indicating that the formulation of a safety policy at a workplace is undertaken by the employers in consultation with workers. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific provisions which provide for cooperation between employers and workers in an undertaking and to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure that workers have both a right and a duty to participate in ensuring safe working conditions, to the extent of their control over equipment and methods of work, and to express views on the working procedures.

Article 28. Replacing of hazardous substances by harmless or less hazardous substances and disposal of waste. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the Labour Code (Chemical Safety) Regulations 2003, with regard to the requirement of an employer who manufactures, supplies, imports or distributes chemical substances which constitute danger to, or in any other way affects, the health and safety of the workers, to notify the competent authority. The Committee reiterates its request that the Government provide information in its next report on measures taken or envisaged to replace hazardous substances by harmless or less hazardous substances wherever possible and measures taken with respect to the disposal of waste.

Part VI of the report form. Labour inspection and application in practice. The Committee notes that the Government has not included information in its latest report on the application of the Convention in practice. The Committee reiterates its request that the Government provide detailed information in its next report on the number of inspections carried out, their findings and the measures taken; and to provide a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country including statistics, if available, of the number of workers covered by the Convention, disaggregated by sex, and the number of accidents and diseases reported in the construction sector.