Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Legislation. The Committee notes with interest that an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Bill has been developed in cooperation with the ILO, which addresses several of the previous points raised by the Committee (such as the powers of labour inspectors provided for under Article 13 of the Convention, the notification of the labour inspectorate of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases provided for under Article 14, etc.), and that relevant national consultations with various stakeholders, including employers’ and workers’ representatives, are currently being held. The Committee asks the Government to continue to keep the ILO informed of any progress made in the adoption of this Bill and to communicate a copy of the relevant OSH Act, once adopted. It expresses the hope that this OSH Act will give full effect to the Convention.

Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention. Annual report on the work of the labour inspection services. The Committee notes that, once again, no annual labour inspection report has been received by the Office, nor has any statistical information been communicated by the Government. It notes the Government’s indication according to which ongoing technical assistance is provided by the Office for the implementation of the Labour Market Information System (LMIS) which, as the Committee had previously noted, contains statistics on labour inspection and is intended to be used to record and generate reports on labour inspections. It also notes the Government’s indications that comprehensive statistical labour inspection reports are expected to be published separately as from 2014, provided that inspection data are correctly and regularly entered in the LMIS database. The Committee requests the Government to make every effort, including the training of staff in the use and operation of the LMIS, to allow the central labour authority to publish and communicate to the ILO, together with its next report due in 2016, an annual labour inspection report containing full information as required under Article 21(a)–(g) of the Convention. The Committee recalls also that the Government could make use of the guidance provided in Paragraph 9 of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), concerning the type of information that should be included in a labour inspection report.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.