Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Norway (Ratification: 1949)

Articles 5(a), 10, 16, 17 and 18 of the Convention. Increase in the number of labour inspectors and inspection activities. Collaboration of the labour inspection services with the authorities responsible for education and the judicial authorities. Further to its previous request concerning the geographical distribution of inspection staff, the Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in this respect. In particular, it notes with satisfaction that the numbers of inspectors have increased from 277 in 2007 to 315 in 2008, which has resulted in a significant increase in the number of workplaces inspected.

The Committee also notes with interest that guidelines to ensure uniform practice in relation to violations of the legal provisions covered by the Convention are in force and that there has been a rise in the number of judicial decisions following reported violations as a result of the development of better cooperation between the labour inspectorate, the police and the judicial authorities.

While recognizing that the number of reported offences referred to the police has increased over the past five years, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) nevertheless considers that the number is low in relation to the number of violations reported by the Government in its report on the application of the Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (No. 139). They consisted in particular of failure to comply with the obligation to train workers responsible for certain types of work or to provide personal protective equipment, reported on the occasion of an inspection campaign targeting particularly sensitive branches. The Committee noted in a comment addressed to the Government in 2009 that through appropriate training for labour inspectors, the Labour Inspection Authority has adopted measures to extend the supervision of health risks related to chemicals, and particularly carcinogenic substances and agents, with a view to improving the quality of supervision. The Government has also launched a major campaign in four different sectors with a view to raising competence levels and reducing the risks of infection due to solvents and risks of dermatological and respiratory problems among workers. Furthermore, in its report on Convention No. 139 received by the Office in January 2010, the Government reports significant progress in the field of prevention as reported by the labour inspectorate during a second verification campaign in workplaces in which violations had been identified.

Article 14. Cooperation in the notification of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease. The Committee notes with interest in the Government’s report relating to the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), that the labour inspectorate has been able to cooperate in the establishment of an electronic hospital register of the accidents treated in all Norwegian hospitals, including a special module for the registration of industrial accidents. However, according to the Government, cases of occupational disease remain under-declared despite the obligation placed on medical practitioners to notify them to the labour inspectorate; nevertheless, the Committee notes with interest that the difficulties relating to the slowness of the manual processing of documents are being resolved through the collaboration of the labour inspectorate with the Norwegian Medical Association for the establishment of an electronic system of reporting based on the electronic patient journal and the secure electronic portal known as “Health Net”. The Committee requests the Government to keep the ILO informed of any progress achieved in the communication to the labour inspectorate of data on industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, the impact of this progress on activities for the prevention of occupational risks in workplaces and their results.