Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Guarding of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119) - Paraguay (Ratification: 1967)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2, Articles 4 and 15 of the Convention. With regard to the comments it has been making for many years, the Committee draws the Government's attention to the need to prohibit expressly, by national laws or regulations or other equally effective measures, the sale, hire, transfer in any other manner and exhibition of machinery of which the dangerous parts are without appropriate guards, and to require the vendor, the person letting out on hire or transferring the machinery in any other manner, or the exhibitor or their respective agents to ensure compliance with this prohibition. The Committee also pointed out that penalties were necessary in order to enforce the prohibition.

In its replies to the Committee's comments, the Government indicates yet again that the provisions of the Labour Code and of resolution No. 649/80 give effect to the above-mentioned provisions of the Convention but that the Committee's comments will be taken into account to ensure better application of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to take the necessary steps to prohibit expressly the sale, hire, transfer in any other manner and exhibition of machinery of which the dangerous parts are without appropriate guards (Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2); to establish the persons responsible for ensuring compliance with the prohibition (Article 4); and to establish the penalties to enforce the provisions of the Convention (Article 15).

2. Articles 7 and 14. The Committee notes section 391 of the Labour Code which provides for penalties for an employer who fails to comply with the provisions of the Code and the technical regulations to eliminate risks in the use of machinery. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to establish, in accordance with Article 14 of the Convention, the liability of the employer's agent.

3. The Committee notes that section 282 of the new Labour Code, adopted in 1993, provides that the Administrative Authority shall issue the regulations of Title V (on occupational safety, health and well-being), after consulting the most representative organizations of workers and employers. Since resolution No. 649/80 (regulating the safety of machinery), adopted under the former Code, contains provisions giving effect to certain provisions of the Convention, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the validity of resolution No. 649/80.