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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - El Salvador (Ratification: 1995)

International cooperation and ILO technical assistance. The Committee notes with interest that a labour inspection reform has been undertaken as a result of recommendations made following a diagnosis that the Office carried out as part of regional cooperation project RLA/07/04M/USA for the strengthening of labour administration systems.

The Committee notes with interest: (a) the adoption of the General Act on the Prevention of Risks in the Workplace (LPRT) issued by Decree No. 254 of 21 January 2010, published in the Official Journal of 5 May 2010; (b) the current revision of the Act on the Organization and Running of the Labour and Social Welfare Sector (LOFT); (c) the current preparation of a code of ethics for labour inspectors; (d) the restructuring of the labour inspectorate involving the merger, within the Directorate General of Inspection, of the two bodies responsible for the supervision of conditions of work in general and occupational safety and health; and (e) a pilot project to standardize labour inspection procedures in these areas, scheduled for implementation between July 2010 and February 2011.

The Committee notes with interest that the LPRT meets the Convention’s requirements on the following points: (i) establishment of an obligation to notify the labour inspectorate within 72 hours of any industrial accident and, immediately and without delay, of any serious or lethal accident (Article 14 of the Convention); (ii) classification of offences (minor, serious, very serious) and establishment of penalties calculated on the basis of the minimum wage for the various categories of offence (Article 18); and (iii) establishment of an occupational safety and health committee (composed of workers’ and employers’ representatives) in enterprises employing 15 or more workers and enterprises engaging in activities of a kind requiring such a body (Article 5 of the Convention and Part II of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81)). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would take the necessary steps to ensure that the legislation is likewise brought into conformity with Article 14 of the Convention as concerns notification to the labour inspectorate of cases of occupational disease. It asks the Government to keep the Office informed of developments in this matter, to provide a copy of any texts adopted and to send a detailed description, with supporting documentation, of the procedures for declaring relevant industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease and notifying them to the labour inspectorate.

According to the Government, besides the progress consisting in the establishment, in the LPRT, of sanctions that are proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the offence (Article 18), the revision of the LOFT should likewise bring the legislation into line with the Convention as requested by the Committee by: (i) giving labour inspectors public official status and assuring them of stability of employment, as well as career prospects (category I inspectors, category II inspectors, supervisors) (Article 6); (ii) providing for the recruitment of labour inspectors by competition (Article 7); (iii) empowering inspectors to enter at any hour of the day or night workplaces liable to inspection (Article 12(1)(a)); (iv) abolishing the requirement for the employer, the workers or their representatives to be present during the inspection (Article 12(c)(i)); and (v) allowing labour inspectors the discretion to give warning and advice to offenders before envisaging the initiation of proceedings (Article 17(2)). The Committee requests the Government to take all necessary steps to bring the law and practice into line with the abovementioned provisions and with
Article 12(2), which allows inspectors not to notify the employer or his representative of their presence if they consider that such notification may be prejudicial to the performance of their duties.

In addition, the Committee requests the Government to ensure both in law and in practice that labour inspectors are not assigned any further duties – for example tasks relating to dispute settlement – that are liable to interfere with or obstruct the effective discharge of their primary duties (Article 3(2) and Part III of Recommendation No. 81).

The Government is requested to keep the ILO informed of any progress in the above areas and to provide copies of any texts or relevant documents, including a copy of the code of ethics referred to in the Government’s report on the application of the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129).

Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention. Publication and communication to the ILO of an annual inspection report. The Committee notes the information sent by the Government including on the number of labour inspectors, the number of workplaces visited between 2006 and 2009, the number of offences reported during the same period and the penalties imposed. It reminds the Government that such information, along with data on the other subjects set forth in Article 21, should be published in the form of an annual report a copy of which should be sent to the ILO. The Committee requests the Government once again to ensure that the central labour inspection authority publishes and sends to the Office within the deadline set in Article 20, an annual report containing the information required by Article 21(a)–(g).

Labour inspection and child labour. The Committee notes that according to the Government, the supervision of child labour is an integral part of the inspections carried out in all economic sectors. The Committee again asks the Government to send detailed information on the supervision of the application of the legal provisions on child labour in industrial and commercial establishments, and to ensure that such information is included regularly, and separately, in the annual inspection report.