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

Maximum Weight Convention, 1967 (No. 127) - Poland (Ratification: 1973)

1. The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the legal texts adopted which continue to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. It notes in particular the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Ordinance of 14 March 2000 on safety and health at work involving manual transporting (DZ.U. No. 26, Text 313 and No. 82, Text 930) transposing into domestic law the requirements set out in the European Directive 90/269/EEC. With regard to the permissible maximum weight of loads that may be transported manually by a single worker, the Committee notes with interest that the limits established for the different categories of workers go beyond the recommendations contained in the ILO publication Maximum weights in load lifting and carrying (Occupational Safety and Health Series, No. 59, Geneva, 1988).

2. Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee notes the comprehensive information transmitted with the Government’s report on labour inspections carried out and on significant problems detected by the labour inspectors in relation to the application of legislation designed to give effect to this Convention. In this respect, the Government indicates that, although there do not exist detailed statistical data, most cases of violation of law have been recorded with regard to women workers employed in industry and trade and regarding the employer’s non-compliance with the training requirement of workers engaged to carry out work involving the manual transport of loads. Another important problem concerns the manual transport in the framework of "casual work". The Committee, taking due note of the various legal measures taken as well as of the penalties imposed by the inspectors for violations of legal provisions, requests the Government to provide with its next report, information on additional measures taken or envisaged to deal with the specific problems occurred in order to strengthen the application of the Convention in practice. It also invites the Government to continue to supply information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice in the country.