Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Ratification: 1998)

Articles 10, 16, 17 and 18 of the Convention. Number of inspectors, number of inspection visits and enforcement. The Committee observes that, according to the statistical report of the Department of Labour for 2009–10, inspection visits increased by 21 per cent. However, out of the 1,716 workplaces liable to inspection, only 71 workplaces were inspected, and out of the 19,653 total workers employed in the country, only 785 workers were employed in the inspected workplaces. Furthermore, the number of complaints declined by 19 per cent, injuries reported were 39 per cent less than in 2009, and the number of individual cases adjudicated by the hearing officer dropped by 47 per cent.

The Committee also notes that, according to the Government’s report, as a result of the economic downturn and of the country’s financial challenges, the Government is still not in a position to address the Committee’s concern on the limited number of labour inspectors and that it undertakes to do so once the economic situation improves.

The Committee recalls that, according to Article 16 of the Convention, workplaces should be inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions. Recalling also from its previous comments that no employer has ever been prosecuted for violation of the law, the Committee once again recalls that labour inspection activities call for an appropriate balance of pedagogic, preventive and repressive measures which means that labour inspectors should be in a position to verify whether their advice and warnings were taken into consideration by the employers found in violation and, if that is not the case, to make use of legal proceedings (Articles 17 and 18). The Committee also recalls that labour inspectors should be in a position to take steps with a view to remedying defects observed in plant, layout or working methods which they may have reasonable cause to believe constitute a threat to the health or safety of the workers and to order measures with immediate executory force in the event of imminent danger to the health or safety of the workers (Article 13). The Committee once again requests the Government to take all the necessary measures in the near future to strengthen the labour inspection services so that they can effectively exercise their functions in terms of control, prevention and advice. In particular, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the activities, in the areas of both prevention and enforcement, carried out by the labour inspectorate during the reporting period, including the number of measures with immediate executory force issued by the labour inspectorate in case of imminent danger to the health or safety of the workers.

Drawing attention to the socio-economic importance of the objectives assigned to the labour inspection services, the Committee requests the Government to endeavour to the fullest possible extent to ensure that adequate human resources are allocated to the labour inspectorate with due regard for the importance of the duties which inspectors have to perform (Article 10). The Committee hopes that the newly established labour market information system will enable the Government to assess the needs of the labour inspection system in terms of human resources and requests the Government to keep the ILO informed of any measure taken or envisaged with regard to the above.

Article 14. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease. The Committee requests the Government to describe the system of recording and notification of industrial accidents and the cases of occupational disease, and to indicate the role of the labour inspectorate in this framework. Please also specify the grounds on which reported cases of injuries can be “approved” or “rejected”, and provide copies of related legal provisions. The Committee draws the Government’s attention in this regard to the ILO code of practice on the recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases which offers guidance on the collection, recording and notification of reliable data and the effective use of such data for preventive action (available at: www.ilo.org/safework/normative/codes/lang--en/docName--WCMS_107800/ index.htm.