Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Safety Provisions (Building) Convention, 1937 (No. 62) - Ireland (Ratification: 1972)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report and the adoption of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No. 481 of 2001), as amended by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) (Amendment) Regulations, 2003 (S.I. No. 277 of 2003), that these regulations are currently under review and that it is anticipated that they will be replaced in 2005 or early 2006 by new safety, health and welfare at work (construction) regulations. The Committee also notes that the Government intends in the near future to replace existing regulations dealing with working at height (including scaffolding, ladders, platforms and openings) and lifting equipment applicable in the area of construction with new working at height and lifting regulations, which will apply to all workplaces. The Government is requested to submit copies of all relevant new pieces of legislation as soon as they have been adopted.

Article 6 of the Convention. Statistics. The Committee notes that, according to statistics provided by the Government, the rate of fatal and non-fatal injuries in construction has declined over the last four years but that the fatality rate is still high and that, during 2003, 21 people had died in construction-related accidents. The Committee also notes that the Government intends to address this problem, inter alia, through targeted inspection programmes and promotional campaigns with the active participation of the Construction Safety Partnership and Construction Advisory Committee. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information and statistics on the practical application of the Convention.

Finally, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167), which revises Convention No. 62 of 1937, and which might be more adapted to the current situation of the building industry. The Committee recalls that the Governing Body of the ILO had invited member States parties to Convention No. 62 to contemplate ratifying Convention No. 167, the ratification of which will, ipso jure, imply the immediate denunciation of Convention No. 62 (document GB.268/8/2). The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed on any developments in this regard.