Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) - Norway (Ratification: 1982)

Article 4 of the Convention. National policy. The Committee notes the comments from the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) transmitted by the Government indicating that while LO recognizes the extensive legislation regulating occupational safety and health (OSH) matters in the country, it questions whether this reflects a coherent national OSH policy covering both workplaces under the authority of the labour inspectorate and those under the Petroleum Safety Authority. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information in relation to the question raised by the LO.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. Statistical information. The Committee notes that in its reports submitted in 2010 on the application of ratified Conventions on occupational safety and health, the Government refers to statistical information from different sources. This includes information from 2005–08 based on reports from physicians on diseases caused by exposure to chemicals (excluding asbestos-related diseases). According thereto the number of reported cases decreased from 196 in 2005 to 130 in 2008. The Committee also notes the Government’s statement that although, according to the Working Environment Act (WEA), reporting on work-related diseases to the labour inspectorate is obligatory, only 4–5 per cent of Norwegian medical practitioners fulfil their reporting duties. The reported figures may therefore not be representative of the actual number of incidents. In this context, the Committee refers to the comments by LO, also transmitted by the Government, on the apparent discrepancy regarding the number of neoplasms reported in 2005–08. According to the above referenced information from physicians included in the report on the application of the present Convention there had been 45 such cases, but according to information submitted in the context of the application of the Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139), there had been 378 such cases. Another source for statistical information the Government refers to are reports on chemical-related injuries transmitted to the social insurance agency. Such reports are reportedly sent either by workers or employers to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service and are registered by the labour inspectorate. According thereto the total number of injuries appears to have decreased, while the percentage of injuries caused by chemicals appears to have been stable at 1.4 per cent in the period 2004–07 with a slight increase to 1.6 per cent in 2008. The Committee also notes the information that the most frequently violated sections of the Ordinance respecting protection against exposure to chemicals at the workplace included; sections 6 (Risk assessment), 7 (Concrete measures to reduce chemical exposures) and 9 (Safety training and information). While the Committee welcomes the efforts to provide statistical information, it notes with some concern the reported shortcomings and discrepancies in the data that has been made available and requests the Government to indicate measures taken to address these shortcomings. Noting the crucial importance of reliable statistical data to enable the tracking of progress and to inform national policy in this area, the Committee invites the Government to provide more detailed information on current national systems for recording and notification of occupational accidents and disease and on any other methods used by the Government to assess the impact of measures taken to improve the application of the Convention in the country.