Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Maximum Weight Convention, 1967 (No. 127) - Portugal (Ratification: 1985)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with satisfaction that section 8 of Legislative Decree No. 330 of 25 September 1993 to issue minimum health and safety requirements for the manual transport of loads, which is applicable to all branches of economic activity, provides that employers shall supply to the workers concerned, and to their representatives in the enterprise or establishment, information on: (a) the potential health risks arising out of the incorrect manner of undertaking the manual transport of loads; (b) the maximum weight and other characteristics of the load; and (c) the centre of gravity and the heaviest side when the contents of the load are not uniformly distributed in terms of weight. Section 8(2) provides that the employer shall ensure that the workers are provided with adequate training and accurate information on the correct manner of transporting loads.

The Committee notes that the above Decree also gives effect to the following provisions of the Convention:

Article 3. For loads weighing over 30 kilograms which are transported occasionally and loads weighing over 20 kilograms which are transported regularly, the employer has to evaluate the relevant aspects of the risk involved in the manual transport of the loads (section 5(1)(a)).

Article 4. With a view to reducing the risks involved, the available space, temperature and the unevenness, slope or instability of the ground shall be taken into account (section 5(2)). The physical effort required by the back, rest periods, large heights to which the load has to be lifted and the rhythm of work which is not under the control of the worker also have to be taken into account (section 5(3)).

Article 8. Workers and their representatives have to be consulted on the application of the provisions contained in Decree No. 330.

With reference to Article 7 of the Convention, the Committee notes that under the terms of section 3 of Decree No. 715/93, the maximum weight established for young men and women workers is 10 kilograms for persons from 14 to 15 years of age and 15 kilograms for persons from 16 to 17 years of age. In this respect, the Committee notes that for the purposes of the Convention the term "young worker" means a worker under 18 years of age. Furthermore, the Committee notes with interest that the maximum weights established for adult workers are 30 kilograms and 20 kilograms respectively for the occasional and regular transport of loads, which indicates that developments in ergonomics and occupational medicine have been taken into account; however, the Committee notes that the difference between the regular and the occasional transport of loads has not been taken into account when establishing the weights which may be transported by young workers. Nor has a difference been made between young male workers and young women workers.

With regard to women workers, the Committee notes that, although Decree No. 330 does not establish a difference between men and women workers with regard to the maximum weight of loads (30 kilograms and 20 kilograms respectively for the occasional and regular transport of loads), the Government states in its report that Decree No. 186/73 remains in force, section 3(c)(d) of which provides that work requiring the occasional manual transport of loads weighing in excess of 27 kilograms or the regular transport of loads weighing in excess of 15 kilograms is prohibited for women workers.

In this context, the Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention to the information contained in the Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety of the ILO on the maximum permissible weights for the manual transport of loads, according to which young persons of either sex are not suited to lifting loads and that physiological differences result in a different aptitude of women with regard to the manual transport of loads. The Committee also refers to Recommendation No. 128, in accordance with which, as far as possible, neither women nor young workers should be assigned to regular manual transport of loads, and where adult women workers are so assigned, the maximum weight of such loads should be substantially less than that permitted for adult male workers; similarly, the maximum weight of such loads for young workers should be substantially less than that permitted for adult workers of the same sex (Paragraphs 15, 16, 19 and 20).

The Committee hopes that the Government will continue to take measures to ensure, as far as possible, that women workers and young workers are not engaged in the manual transport of loads and to ensure that, when these categories of workers are engaged in the manual transport of loads, the limits which are established for the loads take into account medical knowledge in this respect, as has been done for adult male workers. The Committee requests the Government to continue supplying information on the progress achieved in this respect and to supply information on the effect given in practice to the provisions relating to the manual transport of loads, including, for example, extracts of the reports of the inspection services and, taking into account the capacity of the statistical services, information on the number and nature of the violations reported and the measures taken in this respect, etc. (Part V of the report form).