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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - French Polynesia

The Committee notes the Government's reports for 1997 and 1999, as well as the reports on the activities of the labour inspection for 1996 and 1997. It observes that the Government's reports do not contain the information requested in its previous observation and that the annual report for 1998 has not been sent.

Monitoring of safety conditions in work on pearl farms. According to the representation made in 1994 under article 24 of the Constitution by the World Federation of Trade Unions, the regulations on training, certification and safety rules adopted by the French Polynesian authorities in 1987 and applicable to underwater divers working in pearl farms, were inadequate, deficient and discriminatory. They might even be to blame for a large number of permanent disabilities and deaths among divers. The Committee requests the Government to report on progress achieved in the revision of regulations relative to professional diving, which should, in the Committee's view, aim to raise the level of protection for professional divers, while taking account of the economic and socio-cultural reality in the territory.

With reference to its earlier observation regarding the inspection of pearl-producing enterprises, the Committee notes that for 1996 and 1997 the total number of criminal proceedings initiated by the national police force was not registered. It again requests the Government to take the steps necessary to ensure that complete information is submitted on all infringements noted in pearl-producing enterprises and on the legal action engaged and the penalties imposed as well as on all action undertaken to give effect to the recommendations' of the Committee responsible for examining the representation mentioned above regarding the application of Articles 3, 12 and 13 of the Convention, in activities where professional divers are employed.

Insufficient means of the labour inspection in view of its numerous duties. The annual reports show that the duties for which the inspection services are responsible are beyond their capacities in view of their human, material and financial means. Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention describe the means needed to ensure the discharge of their principal functions, which are in turn set forth in Article 3 in conformity with the stipulations of Articles 12 and 16. In this connection, the Committee notes with interest that since 1 January 1999 the labour inspection service no longer oversees the Social Security Fund. It hopes that this reduction of duties, together with substantial financial and human inputs, will permit a better application of the legislation regarding safety and health in high risk sectors (building, public works, professional diving), with a view to preventing accidents and reaffirming the credibility of the inspection services, undermined by the neglect suffered by islands other than Tahiti and Moorea, on account of their far-flung position and the high cost of transport. The Government has already stated that the essential difficulty in the application of the Convention arises from insufficient operating funds, investment and inspection personnel. In the opinion of the director of the inspectorate in the 1997 annual report, without the urgent input of adequate operating funds, the solution would be to transport the inspection services to the metropolitan Ministry of Labour, as is the case for inspection services for the overseas departments and territories of Mayotte and St. Pierre and Miquelon. They would, in his view, profit from better operating conditions, as well as all the technical aids available on the metropolitan territory. The Committee noted, in this connection, that on 24 February 1999, the Council of State cancelled the decision criticized by the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) in comments submitted to the ILO in October 1998. Under this decision, the territorial authorities had established a labour service under the authority of the Polynesian Government, containing territorial public officials. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the lessons learned from the adoption and cancellation of this decision, and the consequences thereof on the current composition and operation of the labour inspection services.

Training of labour inspectors working in the territory. The 1997 annual report reveals serious failings in this field. Inspectors never receive initial training, unlike their counterparts in posts in metropolitan territory, but receive only "on-the-job" training; moreover, the sequences of training provided for other members of the personnel is no longer available since the closure, in 1991, of the Territorial School of Administration. Important needs are expressed for both minimum periodic training, and for inspectors to return by rote for training on metropolitan territory. In its last report, the Government does not mention these shortcomings, since the information it supplies regarding the application of Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention only concerns labour inspectors. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide details on recruitment levels, training and the conditions of service of labour inspectors, as well as on the authority they hold.

Statistics on occupational diseases. The Committee notes the absence of data on cases of occupational diseases, the lack of education of workers regarding the procedures to follow and the scant enthusiasm of the medical corps to assist the workers in this regard. In paragraph 86 of its 1985 General Survey on labour inspection, the Committee stressed that the notification of occupational diseases was not an end in itself but part of the more general aim of accident prevention; that its purpose was to enable the labour inspectors to conduct investigations in the undertaking to establish the causes of work accidents and occupational diseases and to have steps taken to avoid their recurrence. Recalling its 1996 general observation on the application of Article 14 of the Convention, the Committee hopes that the Government will take measures with a view to ensuring the necessary coordination between the central authorities responsible for health and labour inspection so as to establish an appropriate system for the registering and notification of occupational diseases.