Preamble
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Fifty-third Session on 4 June 1969, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to labour inspection in agriculture, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a Recommendation supplementing the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969,
adopts this twenty-fifth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine, the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1969:
- 1. Where national conditions permit, the functions of the labour inspectorate in agriculture should be enlarged so as to include collaboration with the competent technical services with a view to helping the agricultural producer, whatever his status, to improve his holding and the conditions of life and work of the persons working on it.
- 2. Subject to the provisions of Article 6, paragraph 3, of the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969, the labour inspectorate in agriculture might be associated in the enforcement of legal provisions on such matters as--
- (a) training of workers;
- (b) social services in agriculture;
- (c) co-operatives;
- (d) compulsory school attendance.
- 3.
- (1) Normally, the functions of labour inspectors in agriculture should not include that of acting as conciliator or arbitrator in proceedings concerning labour disputes.
- (2) Where no special bodies for this purpose exist in agriculture, labour inspectors in agriculture may be called upon as a temporary measure to act as conciliators.
- (3) In the case provided for by subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, the competent authority should take measures in harmony with national law and compatible with the resources of the labour department of the country concerned with a view to relieving labour inspectors progressively of such functions, so that they are able to devote themselves to a greater extent to the actual inspection of undertakings.
- 4. Labour inspectors in agriculture should become familiar with conditions of life and work in agriculture and have knowledge of the economic and technical aspects of work in agriculture.
- 5. Candidates for senior positions in the labour inspectorate in agriculture should be in possession of appropriate professional or academic qualifications or have acquired thorough practical experience in labour administration.
- 6. Candidates for other positions in the labour inspectorate in agriculture (such as assistant inspectors and junior staff) should, if the level of education in the country allows, have completed secondary general education, supplemented, if possible, by appropriate technical training, or have acquired adequate administrative or practical experience in labour matters.
- 7. In countries where education is not sufficiently developed, persons appointed as labour inspectors in agriculture should at least have some practical experience in agriculture or show an interest in and have capacity for this type of work; they should be given adequate training on the job as rapidly as possible.
- 8. The central labour inspection authority should give labour inspectors in agriculture guidelines so as to ensure that they perform their duties throughout the country in a uniform manner.
- 9. The activity of labour inspectors in agriculture during the night should be limited to those matters which cannot be effectively controlled during the day.
- 10. The use in agriculture of committees for hygiene and safety which include representatives of employers and of workers might be one of the means of collaboration between officials of the labour inspectorate in agriculture and employers and workers, or their organisations where such exist.
- 11. The association of the labour inspectorate in agriculture in the preventive control of new plant, new materials or substances and new methods of handling or processing products which appear likely to constitute a threat to health or safety, provided for in Article 17 of the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969, should include prior consultation with the labour inspectorate on--
- (a) the putting into operation of such plant, materials or substances, and methods; and
- (b) the plans of any plant in which dangerous machines or unhealthy or dangerous work processes are to be used.
- 12. Employers should provide the necessary facilities to labour inspectors in agriculture, including, where appropriate, the use of a room for interviews with persons working in the undertaking.
- 13. The annual report published by the central inspection authority might, in addition to the subjects listed in Article 27 of the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969, deal with the following matters in so far as they are within the competence of the said authority:
- (a) statistics of labour disputes in agriculture;
- (b) identification of problems regarding application of the legal provisions, and progress made in solving them; and
- (c) suggestions for improving the conditions of life and work in agriculture.
- 14.
- (1) Members should undertake or promote education campaigns intended to inform the parties concerned, by all appropriate means, of the applicable legal provisions and the need to apply them strictly as well as of the dangers to the life or health of persons working in agricultural undertakings and of the most appropriate means of avoiding them.
- (2) Such campaigns might, in the light of national conditions, include--
- (a) use of the services of rural promoters or instructors;
- (b) distribution of posters, pamphlets, periodicals and newspapers;
- (c) organisation of film shows, and radio and television broadcasts;
- (d) arrangements for exhibitions and practical demonstrations on hygiene and safety;
- (e) inclusion of hygiene and safety and other appropriate subjects in the teaching programmes of rural schools and agricultural schools;
- (f) organisation of conferences for persons working in agriculture who are affected by the introduction of new working methods or of new materials or substances;
- (g) participation of labour inspectors in agriculture in workers' education programmes; and
- (h) arrangements of lectures, debates, seminars and competitions with prizes.
