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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes that the information communicated by the Government in 2011 does not contain a reply to the requests by the Committee in its comments of 2010. The Committee notes however that the documents, which were attached to the report provided clarifications in relation to certain issues. Therefore, the Committee asks the Government to provide additional information on the following points:

Articles 5 and 9 of the Convention. Cooperation between the inspection services and other government services and collaboration with employers and workers. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information provided concerning a number of instructions essentially designed, according to the Government, to increase the effectiveness of the technical assistance given to the social partners, strengthen social dialogue at the local level, encourage effective practices and raise awareness of those practices and establish structures relating to the prevention of occupational hazards by promoting the widespread use of new technological communication processes to disseminate information relating to conditions of work and employment, strengthening the monitoring of illegal employment practices and working conditions and coordinating efforts to combat and prevent child labour with other ministerial departments. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide a copy of the above instructions referred to in its report received in March 2010 and indicate the measures actually implemented to give effect to those instructions in practice. It requests the Government to inform the ILO of the results achieved by means of institutional collaboration and collaboration with the social partners in the specific areas of the prevention of occupational hazards, illegal practices relating to working conditions and child labour.

Article 7. Training of labour inspectors. The Committee notes with interest the information on various training sessions provided during the reporting period, both at the national level and at the International Training Centre in Turin (Italy). According to the Government, the training provided has improved the level of technical knowledge of inspection staff and increased the effectiveness of their work. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue providing detailed information on the training provided for inspection staff and its impact on inspection activities and their results.

Articles 8, 10 and 16. Number of labour inspectors. Coverage of their activities. While noting the information and statistics on inspection visits, the Committee notes once again, that the total number of workplaces liable to inspection is still not available, making it impossible to assess the rate of coverage of the labour inspectorate. It reemphasizes the importance of ensuring the availability of such information to enable the central authority to give sufficient grounds in requests for budgetary allocations with a view to ensuring optimum coverage with regard to labour inspections.

The Committee requests the Government to ensure that, in future, the report on the work of the labour inspectorate contains figures relating to the workplaces liable to inspection, as well as the number of workers employed therein. The Committee refers the Government to its 2009 general observation which deals with this issue and stresses the importance of establishing and updating a register of undertakings for the assessment of the coverage of the labour inspection system to meet its needs.

Articles 14 and 21(g). Industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases. Noting the lack of statistics of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, the Committee requests the Government to provide data on industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, as well as a copy of any document on the modalities for the notification of the labour inspectorate of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, such as the text implementing sections 68 and 69 of Act No. 83-13 of 2 July 1983, instructions, report forms, etc. It would be grateful if the Government would also provide information on the role of labour inspectors in the context of the investigations carried out following serious industrial accidents, as well as the measures to be taken to avoid the occurrence of new accidents or cases of occupational disease. The Committee is also requested to ensure that relevant statistics are included in the annual report on the work of the inspection services.

Articles 5(a), 13, 17, 18 and 21(e). Action taken in response to reports of violations or occupational safety and health risks. Cooperation with judicial bodies. The Committee notes with interest the increase in the rate of reports of violations drawn up by inspectors who have been trained by the competent judicial bodies. According to the Government, this is the consequence of a closer relationship between the labour inspection services and the local courts. In addition, the Ministry of Justice has launched a training programme on labour law for judges in the competent judicial bodies with the assistance of institutions specializing in the field, namely the National Labour Institute and the National Institute of Magistrates. In this regard, the Committee refers to its general observation of 2007 and requests the Government to ensure that, in future, the report on the work of the labour inspectorate contains the most detailed information possible concerning the violations noted by labour inspectors during their inspections, as well as the administrative measures (cessation of work, for example), administrative fines and judicial decisions handed down against those responsible for violating the legal provisions on working conditions and the protection of workers.

Article 21. Content of annual reports. The Committee would like once again to draw the Government’s attention to the guidance provided in Paragraph 9 of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), concerning the ideal level of detail for the information which should be included in the annual inspection report. It emphasizes the importance of this report as a tool for evaluating the operation of the labour inspectorate and determining measures to ensure its gradual improvement. The presentation of the information required is not an end in itself. It should be processed and analysed by the central labour inspection authority with a view to achieving the socio-economic objective inherent in the eminently important function of the labour inspectorate. The Committee would once again be grateful if the Government would take measures to give full effect to the provisions of Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention, so that the annual report on the work of the labour inspectorate constitutes, each year, a reliable basis for assessing the budgetary resources required to improve its operation. It invites the Government to refer to the 2010 general observation under this Convention on the publication and the content of the annual report.

Labour inspection and child labour. Referring to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government has not provided the information required on inspection activities in the area of combating child labour. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken by the labour inspectorate to enforce the legislation relating to child labour and, if necessary, punish those responsible, as well as on the impact of these measures on developments relating to the phenomenon.