Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Pakistan (Ratification: 1953)

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The Committee notes the observations of the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions (APFTU), received on 31 August 2023. The Committee also notes the Government’s reply, received on 3 October 2023, in which it indicates that the points raised by the APFTU have been addressed in the Government’s report.

Articles 3, 4(2), 10 and 16 of the Convention. Effective organization of the labour inspection services and the supervision and control by central labour inspection authorities at the provincial levels. Number of labour inspectors and number and thoroughness of labour inspections. Additional duties of the labour inspectorate. In reply to the Committee’s previous request, the Government provides in its report, the organizational charts of the labour inspection services in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. With regards to measures taken to strengthen the authorities responsible for labour inspection, the Committee takes note of a series of reported initiatives, aiming inter alia to increase staff. In Balochistan, the Department of Labour envisages developing a new strategy of setting targets for the labour inspectors in the field with specific functions, after the envisioned promulgation of new labour laws. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), the Department of Labour is working on the recruitment process to fill vacant posts, having already approved the creation of seven new offices for tribal districts with a total strength of 70 staff, and having sanctioned 63 posts of various cadres for the establishment of 4 new offices in the settled districts of the province. Furthermore, the Department of Labour is implementing a scheme aiming to ensure better service delivery. In this regard, the Committee notes that detailed information is provided in the annual labour inspection reports for 2019, 2020 and 2021 on notified posts for labour inspectors (both occupied and vacant) for all provincial Departments of Labour and Departments of Mines, as well as on the number of conducted inspections, and the update provided by the Government for the year 2022. The Committee notes that KPK and Balochistan provinces saw an overall increase in the number of occupied posts of labour inspectors (in KPK from 70 labour inspectors and 16 mine inspectors in 2019 to 78 labour inspectors and 17 mine inspectors in 2021 and in Balochistan from 59 labour inspectors and 25 mine inspectors in 2019 to 86 labour inspectors and 28 mine inspectors in 2022). Punjab province reported virtually no change during this period: from 225 labour inspectors and 13 mine inspectors in 2019 to 225 labour inspectors and 14 mine inspectors in 2021. In 2022, according to Government’s indications, the number of inspectors remained stable for Punjab and KPK, while in Balochistan there has been a decrease to 75 labour inspectors and 38 vacant positions with recruitment process underway for 9 of them. In Sindh there has been a decrease from 118 labour inspectors and 26 mine inspectors in 2019 to 105 labour inspectors and 23 mine inspectors in 2021. The Government indicates that efforts are underway to fill 107 vacant positions in Sindh. The Committee notes that according to the 2021 labour inspection report, in the Islamabad Capital Territory there was no labour inspector, while the Government’s report indicates that 9 inspectors’ posts are notified without clarifying if these posts are occupied or vacant. The Committee notes that in its observations, the APFTU expresses concern over the dire shortage of labour inspectors in the country, with only 517 officials overseeing the safety and well-being of millions of workers engaged in various sectors, including industry, agriculture, and commerce. The Committee requests the Government to provide an organizational chart of the labour inspection services in KPK and the Islamabad Capital Territory.The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken to strengthen the authorities responsible for labour inspection in the Islamabad Capital Territory and all provinces, and to continue to provide information on the number of labour inspectors in each province (as well as vacant positions) and labour inspections performed in each province. Noting the serious challenges that confront the national system of labour inspection, the Committee urges the Government to continue to pursue its efforts to ensure that the number of labour inspectors is sufficient to secure the effective discharge of the duties of the inspectorate, including by filling the vacant positions in each province, and to provide information on relevant measures taken or envisaged. Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any additional duties performed by the provincial labour inspectorates (such as registration of trade unions and conciliation of labour disputes) and to indicate the amount of time spent on these tasks.

Article 12. Free access of labour inspectors to workplaces. The Committee notes the Government’s reiterated indication that labour inspectors may enter workplaces freely and without previous notice in all provinces. In this respect, the Committee has been noting for several years that section 19 of the 2017 Sindh Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act restricts the conduct of inspection visits to “any reasonable time” (and only permits entry “at any time” in situations that are or may be dangerous). It also has noted that the 2019 Punjab OSH Act did not contain any provisions related to the power of labour inspectors to freely enter workplaces liable to inspection without prior notice. The Committee also noted that the provisions on the powers of inspectors in the Factories Act of 1934, the Sindh Factory Act of 2015 and the KPK Factories Act of 2013, although providing that inspectors may enter establishments as they think fit, do not specifically refer to entry without prior notice (section 11 of the Factories Act of 1934, section 12 of the KPK Factories Act and section 13 of Sindh Factories Act). The same applies for section 11 of the new Balochistan Factories Act, 2021. Observing these limitations or silences in a broad range of legislative provisions, the Committee once again recalls that according to Article 12 of the Convention, labour inspectors shall be empowered to enter freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection. With regards to information on the application in practice, the Committee notes with interest the report from KPK that in 2022, 70,644 inspections were carried out and they were all unannounced. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that labour inspectors in all provinces are empowered in law and practice to enter any workplace liable to inspection freely and without previous notice at any hour of the day or night, as provided for in Article 12(1) of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on any rules (or legislation) adopted that impact on the exercise of the powers of inspectors referred to in section 11 of the Factories Act of 1934, section 12 of the KPK Factories Act, section 13 of the Sindh Factories Act, and section 11 of the Balochistan Factories Act, 2021. It also requests the Government to provide information on the exercise of this right in practice in all provinces, indicating the number of inspections conducted with and without prior notice.

Article 14. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases. The Committee notes the information in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 labour inspection reports concerning the number of accidents and diseases notified to the Departments of Labour and the Departments of Mines in all provinces. It notes that the total number of accidents notified in all provinces sharply increased from 351 in 2019 to 1303 in 2021. The Committee notes in particular that in the province of Punjab the number of reported accidents to the Department of Labour increased from 12 in 2019 to 981 in 2021. With regards to occupational diseases, according to the 2019 labour inspection report, no occupational disease was reported in the provinces of Punjab, KPK, Balochistan and the Islamabad Capital Territory, while the Department of Labour in Sindh reported 112 cases. According to the 2020 labour inspection report, no occupational disease was reported in the Provinces of Punjab, KPK, Balochistan, while the Department of Labour Sindh reported again 112 cases of occupational diseases. According to the 2021 labour inspection report, no occupational disease was reported in Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Balochistan. Concerning measures taken to improve the notification of occupational accidents in all provinces, the Committee notes that the online accident reporting mechanism linked with Punjab Employees’ Social Security Institution has been established on a web portal where the statistics with regard to accidents are collected. Furthermore, the Labour Department of KPK aims to continue improving the reporting mechanism through intra and inter departmental cooperation which will allow for consolidation of the number of occupational accidents and diseases notified to all Departments. As far as formulation of rules under relevant laws to improve reporting of fatal and non-fatal accidents is concerned, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the adoption of such laws is underway in KPK. In its observations, the APFTU emphasizes that workers employed in coal mines in Balochistan continue to face a high incidence of tragic accidents and that the country is among those with the highest rates of large accidents in the transport industry. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide statistical information on the number of industrial accidents and to provide information on the reason for the increase in the number of notified accidents. Noting that there is no available information on occupational diseases for all provinces, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed statistical information on the number of occupational diseases notified in each province. The Committee requests the Government toprovide information on the reason why no diseases were reported in most of the provinces.The Committee requests once again that the Government take measures to improve the notification of occupational accidents in all provinces, to ensure the notification of both fatal and non-fatal accidents, and to improve the detection and identification of cases of occupational diseases as well as their notification to the labour inspectorate. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this respect, including on any rules or regulations adopted.

Article 18. Obstruction of labour inspectors in the performance of their duties. Following the Committee’s previous comment with regard to data on the obstruction of labour inspectors, the Government indicates that inspectors in Balochistan, Punjab, and the Islamabad Capital Territory are performing their duties freely, and no incidents of obstruction during inspections have been reported. In KPK, the Department of Labour aims to modify inspection reports to include an obstruction indicator in the future. Noting the Government’s indication that in Punjab,Balochistan and the IslamabadCapital Territory no cases have yet been reported related to any obstruction of labour inspectors in their duties, the Committee urges the Government to provide information on the possible reasons for this lack of reporting, including whether it is related to a lack of sufficiently detailed inquiry, or to inspectors’ reluctance to initiate such reports. It requests the Government to provide information on any cases reported in all other provinces, including the outcome of the cases and the specific penalties applied (including the amount of fines imposed). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made by the Department of Labour of KPK with regards to its efforts to include obstruction prosecution data in monthly progress reports.

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

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2024.]