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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Belize (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government according to which the National Occupational Safety and Health Bill gives effect in law to certain of the provisions of the Convention. It hopes that this Bill will be adopted in the near future and would be grateful if the Government would provide the Office with a copy once it has been adopted.

Article 3 of the Convention. Preventive activities in occupational safety and health. The Government indicates that the National Occupational Safety and Health Bill is still under preparation and that labour officers undergo continuous training in this field. It adds that the Labour Department currently has a Senior Labour Officer with responsibility for occupational safety and health, who has begun developing a manual for labour inspectors. While noting this information, the Committee hopes that the Bill will be adopted in the near future and that it will contain provisions allowing for the effective prevention of occupational risks, and requests the Government to provide a copy to the Office once it has been adopted. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of the manual for labour inspectors when it has been prepared.

Articles 6, 10 and 16. Conditions of service of labour inspectors. Number of labour inspectors and inspection visits. The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indications on: (i) the increase in the pay scale for labour officers who hold a baccalaureate or a first degree; (ii) the creation of a separate unit for labour inspection in the Labour Department; and (iii) the increase in the number of workplace inspections. It also notes the Government’s indications on recruitment methods and upward mobility for labour officers. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on: (i) progress in the recruitment of labour officers; (ii) the improvement of the conditions of service of labour inspectors; (iii) the creation of a separate unit, with an indication of the number and grade of labour officers entrusted with inspection duties, as envisaged in Article 3; and (iv) the number of workplace inspections carried out and their results. It hopes that the Government will compile data, such as the number and geographical distribution of workplaces liable to labour inspection, and provide such data in its next report.

Article 7(3). Training of labour inspectors. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that labour officers have received training courses on HIV/AIDS, occupational safety and health and combating child labour, and that others have been sent for training within the Caribbean and Latin American region. It would be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on the effect given to this provision of the Convention in practice.

Article 13. Powers of injunction of labour inspectors in relation to occupational safety and health. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the National Occupational Safety and Health Bill provides that labour officers may make or have made orders requiring measures with immediate executory force in the event of imminent danger to the health and safety of the workers. It would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the effect given in practice to the Act once it has been adopted and in the meantime, if it would indicate the manner in which effect is given to this provision of the Convention while awaiting the adoption of the Bill.

Article 14. Notification of industrial accidents. The Government indicates that the National Occupational Safety and Health Bill includes mechanisms ensuring the reporting of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, and the requirement for employers to maintain registers of accidents. It also refers to the endeavours of the labour inspectorate to collaborate with the Belize Social Security Board. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the effect given in practice to this provision of the Convention while awaiting the adoption of the National Occupational Safety and Health Bill. It draws the Government’s attention to the Code of practice on the recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases, which is available on the ILO website (http://www.ilo.org/safework/normative/codes/lang--en/docName--WCMS_107800/index.htm).

Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report. The Government indicates that the annual labour inspection reports have not been submitted for a while and remain at the draft stage. The Committee recalls its general observation of 2011, in which it emphasized the essential importance that it places on the publication and communication to the ILO within the prescribed time-limits of an annual labour inspection report. When well prepared and when it contains all the required information, the annual report offers an indispensable basis for the evaluation of the operation in practice of the labour inspection services and, subsequently, the determination of the means necessary to improve their effectiveness. The Committee recalls in this respect that extremely valuable guidance on the presentation and analysis of this information is provided in the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81). It emphasizes once again, in particular, the need for the inclusion in the annual report of a description of the scope of the national labour inspection system (workplaces and persons covered) as a basis for assessing its coverage in practice, if necessary, through appropriate inter institutional cooperation.

The Committee also recalls its general observation of 2007 in which, among other comments, it observed that information on judicial decisions concerning the application of legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work is reported only too rarely to the International Labour Office. It therefore drew attention to Paragraph 9(e) of Recommendation No. 81, which indicates that the statistics of violations and penalties to be included in annual labour inspection reports should include the number of infringements reported to the competent authorities, the number of convictions, and particulars of the nature of the penalties imposed by the competent authorities in the various cases (fines, imprisonment, etc.).

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide a copy of the annual report on the activities of the labour inspection services as soon as possible. It requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure in future the preparation and publication of the report on a regular annual basis, that it contains all the information and statistics required by Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention, and that a copy is provided to the ILO within the required time-limits.

Labour inspection and child labour. The Government indicates that where labour officers detect the existence of child labour or the worst forms of child labour, the officer responsible informs the Human Services Department, which is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Human Development and Social Transformation. The Government indicated in its report under Convention No. 182 the establishment of the National Child Labour Committee, which is under the responsibility of the National Committee for Families and Children, for the supervision of activities intended to achieve the effective eradication of child labour. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure collaboration between the labour inspectorate and the National Subcommittee to Combat Child Labour. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on the cases detected by the responsible officers of children engaged in the worst forms of child labour, and the measures adopted in such cases, such as the number of prosecutions and the sanctions applied.