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

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

With reference to its observation, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention and Paragraph 14 of the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1969 (No. 133). Educational activities relating to occupational hazards in agriculture. The Committee notes with interest that inspectors have provided agricultural workers with training on risk prevention in the agro-industrial sector and employers and workers with training on occupational hazards on sugar cane plantations and in other activities. It also notes with interest that during inspections they have distributed educational booklets on Decree No. 321/009 concerning the health and safety of agricultural workers and on the specific hazards linked to the use of pesticides. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue promoting measures aimed at establishing a culture of prevention in agricultural undertakings and that it will keep the ILO informed on a regular basis.

Article 9, paragraph 3. Training of labour inspectors in agriculture in the course of their employment. The Government points out the joint participation of work environment professionals, magistrates and representatives of the General Inspectorate of Labour and Social Security (IGTSS) in days devoted to examining the issue of limiting the working day of forestry workers. The Committee notes this information and once again requests the Government to provide further information on the participation of labour inspectors in agriculture in the various regions of the country in training sessions on risk prevention in the forestry sector.

Article 12, paragraph 1. Cooperation between the labour inspection services and other government services with a view to preventing risks in the agricultural sector. Further to its previous comments, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide the comprehensive report mentioned in its 2007 report on risk identification and preventive measures in stock raising.

Article 17. Association of labour inspectors with the preventive control of agricultural undertakings. The Committee once again requests the Government to ensure that the competent authority determines the cases and the conditions in which inspectors are to be associated in the preventive control of new plant, new materials or substances and new methods of handling or processing products which appear likely to constitute a threat to health or safety. It requests it to keep the ILO informed of any developments in this regard and to provide a copy of any relevant texts or documentation.

Articles 26 and 27. Annual report on the work of the inspection services in agriculture. Noting the inclusion in the IGTSS’s annual report of some information relating to inspection activities in agriculture, the Committee once again reminds the Government that information and statistics on each of the subjects listed in Article 27 are to be published and transmitted to the ILO, as required by Article 26, either as a separate report or as part of a general report. Consequently, the Committee urges the Government to take prompt measures to give full effect in practice to the above provisions specifically concerning labour inspection in agriculture, in order to allow it to assess the degree of application of the Convention.