Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Maximum Weight Convention, 1967 (No. 127) - Malta (Ratification: 1988)

Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee notes section 8(1)(b) of the Act for the Promotion of Occupational Health and Safety, 1994, providing in general terms for the employer's obligation "to ensure that reasonable measures and precautions have been taken so that the work environment in workplaces under his control is reasonably favourable to health and free from avoidable physical or psychological stress". The Committee, however, points out that Article 4 of the Convention calls for the observance of the specific conditions (nature of the work, physiological characteristics, climatic conditions, etc.) regarding the application of the principle set forth in Article 3, according to which 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 jeopardize his health or safety. The Committee therefore asks the Government to define the specific conditions taken into account in the application of the principle inherent in Article 3.

Article 5. The Committee notes section 8(1)(e) of the Act for the Promotion of Occupational Health and Safety, 1994, as well as section 49(4) of the Factories (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 1986, which both prescribe the employer's duty to inform every worker about the dangers to health and safety in the workplace, the necessity to use the protective measures indicated and the best methods of prevention. The Committee recalls the provision of Article 5 of the Convention and requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the workers assigned to manual transport of loads other than light loads receive, prior to such assignment, adequate training or instruction in working techniques, with a view to safeguarding health and preventing accidents.

Article 6. The Committee notes the Government's indication to the effect that the employer has the obligation to provide and maintain systems of work that are, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health. The Committee requests the Government to supply additional information whether or not suitable technical devices are used as much as possible in order to limit or facilitate the manual transport of loads, in conformity with Article 6 of the Convention.

Article 7. The Committee notes the Government's indication according to which it is intended to publish specific guidelines either as codes of practice or in the form of regulations in the near future. The Committee hopes that these guidelines will limit the assignment of women and young workers to manual transport of loads other than light loads, and will also reflect the information contained in the ILO publication "Maximum weights in load lifting and carrying" (Occupational Safety and Health Series, No. 59, Geneva, 1988) as concerns weight limits for lifting and carrying loads. It requests the Government to supply a copy of these guidelines as soon as they are issued.