Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Maximum Weight Convention, 1967 (No. 127) - New Caledonia

The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the Government in its report.

1. In its previous direct request, the Committee referred to the lack of any provisions to give effect to Article 3 (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 health or safety), Article 4 (that members shall take account of all the conditions in which the work is to be performed) and Article 6 (that suitable technical devices shall be used in order to limit or facilitate the manual transport of loads) of the Convention.

The Committee notes that, in its last report, the Government states that the measures adopted by the authority responsible for health and safety and working conditions have established regulations giving general effect to the Convention but that specific measures have not yet been adopted to avoid making the new labour legislation cumbersome, as it is already considerably more voluminous than the former legislation. According to the Government, it is clear that, two years after the entry into force of the above measures, the various general legislation already existing enabled the very rare concrete problems that arose to be solved satisfactorily.

The Committee wishes to stress the importance for the health of the workers concerned, of determining the maximum weight of loads and of taking into account factors such as topography, climate, distance, lifting and frequency.

In this connection, the Committee draws the Government's attention to the contents of Recommendation No. 128 concerning the maximum permissible weight to be carried by one worker. It also invites the Government to become acquainted with the brochure "Maximum weight in load lifting and carrying", Occupational Safety and Health Series, No. 59, International Labour Office, Geneva, 1988.

The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the provisions of the Convention referred to.

2. The Committee notes that there is no provision in the national legislation giving effect to Article 7 of the Convention (limitation of the assignment of women and young workers to manual transport of loads other than light loads; limitation of the maximum weight of loads to be transported by women and young workers, which must be substantially less than that permitted for adult male workers).

The Government indicates that the Orders provided for in section 5 of Decision No. 34 of 23 February 1989 are to be prepared in the near future after consultation with the social partners. The Committee hopes that the above Orders will be adopted shortly and asks the Government to provide information on developments in this respect.