Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Bahrain (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, the replies to its previous comments, and the statistical documents and the extract from the Social Insurance Act (sections 63-77) attached in the annexes.

1. Content of the report on the application of the Convention (report form of the Convention). The Committee observes that the information provided by the Government under each of the Articles of the Convention, including the reference texts, are too general in character to be able to evaluate in specific terms the manner in which effect is given in practice to all their provisions. It therefore requests the Government to provide any other legislative, regulatory or administrative information available, as well as any documentation which is not only useful for such an evaluation but also for determining the means to be implemented to improve the efficiency of the inspection system.

In addition, further to its previous comments, the Committee requests the Government to communicate in particular information on the following points.

2. Notification of industrial accidents and diseases (Article 14 of the Convention). The Committee notes that no provision of the version in force of Act No. 24-76 concerning social insurance provides for notification of industrial accidents and diseases to the inspection services. Under section 63 of this Act any notification in this regard is to be made to the geographically competent police station and to the General Social Insurance Organization, not only by the employer but also by the worker concerned where his condition allows. Although the General Social Insurance Organization is, under section 7, an organization supervised by the Ministry of Labour, and the layout of the relevant report form is prescribed by the latter, no copy appears to be sent to it. The Committee recalls, as emphasized in paragraph 86 of its 1985 General Survey on labour inspection, that notifying the labour inspectorate is not an end in itself but part of a more general aim of accident prevention, and its purpose is to enable the labour inspectors to conduct investigations in undertakings to establish the causes of work accidents and occupational diseases and to have steps taken to avoid their recurrence. The Government is therefore requested to take measures to establish a notification procedure in the cases and circumstances referred to by Article 14 and to inform the Office of any progress made in this regard.

3. Content and objectives of the annual inspection report (Articles 20 and 21).  The Committee notes that the many statistical tables contained in the annual report for 2003 originate solely from the Division for Safety in the Workplace of the Labour Ministry and that none of the information required by the abovementioned provisions relating to the inspection of conditions of work such as hours of work, leave, wages, women’s work, young workers and children, has been communicated. Also noting the incomplete nature of the information on the operation and results of inspection activities relating to safety and health in the workplace, the Committee invites the Government to draw the attention of the central inspection authority to the developments of paragraphs 273 ff. of the General Survey quoted above as regards the national and international objectives of the annual inspection report and to implement measures allowing the inclusion of detailed information in the annual report, as recommended by Part IV of the Labour Inspection Recommendation No. 81.