Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Safety Provisions (Building) Convention, 1937 (No. 62) - Tunisia (Ratification: 1959)

Article 6 of the Convention. Statistical information relating to the number and classification of accidents occurring to persons occupied on work within the scope of the Convention. The Committee notes with interest the detailed statistical information, covering the evolution of occupational accidents and diseases in the construction sector for the period 1995–2008, including the detailed analysis of the principal causes of accidents and diseases in this sector in 2008. The Committee notes the relative downward trend in the number of accidents recorded, but that the trend regarding occupational diseases is very irregular. The Committee also notes the detailed information regarding measures taken by the National Health Insurance Institution (CNAM) to address these problems, including the undertaking in 2007 of 1,234 technical assistance missions in affiliated enterprises and, in 2008, 1,307 such missions. The Committee notes with particular interest the information that the number of occupational accidents decreased by 10.8 per cent in 2007 and by 19.3 per cent in 2008 and that the CNAM would undertake similar technical assistance missions in 1,397 enterprises during 2009. The Committee also notes the financial incentives instituted by the Government including financial assistance for prevention programmes covering up to 70 per cent of the cost of the investment; a bonus/malus system concerning insurance fees including reduced premiums for enterprises willing to invest in preventive strategies and increased premiums for those refusing to do so; the imposition of increased insurance premiums as a sanction for breaches of occupational safety and health provisions; the conduct of 14 information seminars (including a seminar specifically concerning occupational safety and health in the construction sector) with the participation of technical specialists from CNAM. The Committee also notes that the Government has adopted a national programme for the management of occupational risks for the period 2009–11 with three main objectives: the promotion of health at work; the promotion of safety at work and a reduction of occupational accidents, in particular fatal and serious accidents. The Committee welcomes this information and invites the Government to continue to provide information on its continuing efforts to improve occupational safety and health conditions, in particular in the construction sector.

Revision of this Convention. The Committee would also like to draw the Government’s attention to the Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167), which revises Convention No. 62 of 1937 and could well be better adapted to the current situation in the building sector. It again points out that the ILO Governing Body invited States parties to Convention No. 62 to envisage the ratification of Convention No. 167, which entails, ipso jure, immediate denunciation of Convention No. 62 (GB.268/8/2). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all possible developments in this respect.