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

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Germany (Ratification: 1973)

The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending May 2008 and the statistical information and tables concerning labour inspection covering the period 2004–06.

Article 27(c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Convention. Scope and activities of the State inspection services and the inspection services of the Professional Association for Agriculture. The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government on the number of agricultural undertakings and their average size, the number of persons working in those undertakings as their principal or secondary activity, accidents entailing compulsory notification, including fatal accidents, as well as their causes, reported and recognized cases of occupational disease, as well as their causes, inspections, violations reported and the enforcement measures taken against those responsible.

Article 19. Notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease. Industrial accidents. The Government indicates that in agriculture, forestry and horticulture, certain natural events and disasters have a noticeable negative effect on the number of accidents and that an analysis of fatal accidents shows that their incidence also increases with the age of the insured person. The Committee notes that a small proportion of accidents are linked to the use of machinery and installations and that the inspection services therefore provide targeted advice and information for the categories of persons who are particularly exposed, including distributing a film aimed at older workers, and verify and certify machinery and installations. It also notes with interest that, according to the Government, the resources of professional agriculture associations were increased markedly during the period 2004–06 in order to strengthen the prevention of accidents. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide details on the various preventive measures implemented to reduce the number and seriousness of industrial accidents and indicate the impact of such measures on the occupational safety situation during the period covered by the next report.

Article 6, paragraph 2. Monitoring of the conditions of life of agricultural workers and their families. Noting that in 2006, two children under 14 years of age were the victims of accidents, one of which was fatal, the Committee requests the Government to specify whether these accidents involved workers or persons living on an agricultural undertaking and to indicate whether officials of the State labour inspectorate or those of the Professional Association for Agriculture carry out advisory or enforcement functions regarding the application of legal provisions relating to the conditions of life of workers and their families. If so, please provide details in this regard.

Cases of occupational disease. The Committee notes that the statistics on cases of occupational disease make a distinction for 2006 between those which were reported and those which were recognized. It also notes the particular recurrence of five types of occupational disease (diseases affecting the respiratory tract, the spine and the skin, diseases transmitted from animal to man and noise-induced hearing disorders). Among the cases reported, those that were recognized were mostly diseases transmitted from animal to man (223 out of 690). In its 2008 report on the application of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), the Government announced that the reduction in the number and seriousness of skin diseases was one of the objectives relating to occupational safety for the period 2008–12. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would explain the gap between the number of cases of occupational disease reported and the number of cases recognized and indicate the practical measures implemented to reduce the factors at the origin of the most frequent diseases. It requests it to specify whether, and to what extent, the objective for 2008–12 of reducing the number and seriousness of skin diseases has been defined taking into account those diseases which specifically affect agricultural workers and to indicate the measures taken to achieve that objective for the agricultural sector and their impact.

Articles 21, 22 and 24. Frequency of inspections and follow-up. The Committee notes that the number of inspections carried out by the inspection service of the Professional Association for Agriculture decreased from 176,013 in 2004 to 157,371 in 2006 and that, during the same period, the number of fines and warnings resulting from those inspections also decreased significantly. It also notes that, following a noticeable drop between 2004 and 2005, the number of inspections carried out and cases dealt with by the State inspection services has risen and the number of fines and warnings has also increased considerably. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the background to these developments and on the measures to which they have given rise, including their results.