Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Maximum Weight Convention, 1967 (No. 127) - Türkiye (Ratification: 1975)

The Committee notes the observations of the Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Associations (TİSK) and of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ), communicated with the Government’s report.

Article 3 of the Convention. Manual transport of a load likely to jeopardize the health and safety of the worker. Further to its previous comments where it asked the Government to specify the maximum weight limits that need to be considered by the employer when evaluating the risk to the health or safety of workers, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Regulation on manual transport of 24 July 2013, which repealed the 2004 Regulation on Manual handling work, was drawn up according to Council Directive 90/269/EEC of 29 May on the manual handling of loads. The Government indicates that this Regulation aims to determine the minimum requirements for protecting workers from the health and safety risks associated with the manual transport of loads, and the Committee notes that it does not specify a weight limit for loads. The Government further indicates that the annex of the Regulation on vocational training of those employed in hazardous and highly hazardous work of 13 July 2014, which provides that vocational training must be given to workers employed in carrying, loading and unloading of loads weighing more than 25 kilograms. The Committee notes that TİSK also refers to the conformity of the Regulation on manual transport with the European Directive and provide details on the different provisions of the Regulation concerning protection measures for workers who transport loads manually. TİSK considers that the Regulation complies with the Convention, and observes that the latter does not lay down any numerical limit for loads. On the other hand, TÜRK-İŞ observes that manual transport is widely used in various branches of industry where mechanical systems are frequently lacking and that both workers and trade unions file complaints concerning the lifting of heavy loads, as no maximum weight is defined in the legislation and the matter is therefore left to the employer, where difficulties arise in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the practical measures taken or envisaged to ensure that no worker shall be required or permitted to engage in the manual transport of a load which, by reason of its weight, is likely to jeopardise his/her health or safety.

Article 7. Restriction on the assignment of women and young workers to manual transport. The Committee notes the observations of TÜRK-İŞ according to which the Regulations on heavy and dangerous work, which prohibited the carrying, loading and unloading of loads weighing more than 25 kilograms by women and young workers aged between 16 and 18, have been repealed by the Regulations abolishing the regulations on heavy and dangerous work of 8 February 2013. It also notes the Government’s indication that pursuant to section 10 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act No. 6331 of 2012, employers must consider whether the physical nature of women and young workers is appropriate to carry out work involving the manual handling of loads. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Government indicates that, as women and young workers are included in “groups requiring special policies” in accordance with section 10 of Act No. 6331, the employer is obliged, according to the Regulation on manual transport to take into account their physical nature to protect them against hazards in manual handling of loads. It also notes, from the indications made by the Government, that the maximum weight of a load which can be carried by young workers, under the age of 18 and who have completed 15 years, is limited to 10 kilograms under Annex 2 of the Regulation on procedures and principles of employing children and young workers of 6 April 2004. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the measures taken or envisaged to give effect to the obligation to restrict the employment of adult women in regard to the transport of loads other than light loads and to establish that the weight of each load shall be substantially less for women than that permitted for male workers.

Application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including extracts from labour inspection reports and, when such statistics are available, information concerning the number and nature of contraventions reported and the sanctions imposed.