Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Guarding of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119) - Central African Republic (Ratification: 1964)

Article 2, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Convention. In the comments that it has been making for over 15 years, the Committee referred to section 37(3) of General Order No. 3758 which provides that dangerous machines or parts of machines of which the sale, exhibition or hire is prohibited under section 37(1) shall be specified by Order.

The Committee noted, according to the information supplied by the Government, that the draft Decree provided for under section 37 above was before the competent authorities and had not yet been adopted. The Government also stated that the above draft text would also give effect to Articles 10, paragraph 1, and 11 of the Convention, concerning the measures that must be taken by the employer to bring national laws or regulations relating to the guarding of machinery to the notice of workers and to instruct them regarding the dangers arising from their use. Article 11 provides that no workers shall use any machinery without the guards provided being in position nor make inoperative these guards, while guaranteeing that, irrespective of the circumstances, no worker shall be required to use any machinery without the guards provided being in position or if they have been made inoperative.

The Committee notes the statement by the Government representative to the Conference Committee in 1991 to the effect that only three years have passed since the establishment (with the assistance of the ILO) of the Directorate of Workers' Health in Central Africa, which is headed by the only occupational health medical inspector in the country, but that nevertheless texts had been drafted, updated and submitted to the competent authorities for adoption.

The Committee notes the concern expressed by the Workers' and Employers' members of the Conference Committee concerning the "extreme delay in remedying the problem" and the importance of the application of this Convention "because it involves the safety, health and sometimes the very lives of workers".

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It requests the Government to take the necessary measures to give effect to the Convention on the points which have been raised and to supply information on any progress achieved in this respect.