Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Kenya (Ratification: 1964)

The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indications that it is currently studying with a view to their implementation some of the recommendations made by the labour administration and inspection needs assessment conducted in 2010 (2010 audit) following a request by the Government for technical assistance. The recommendations of the assessment correspond to a large extent to the Committee’s previous comments on the application of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the steps taken or envisaged with a view to providing for the application in law and practice of the provisions of the Convention, in light of the recommendations made in the 2010 audit, and to provide a copy of any texts adopted in this regard. Please also indicate any steps taken to obtain access to the necessary funds for this purpose through international cooperation.

Article 14 of the Convention. Reporting and investigation of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease. The Committee notes that the Government, in reply to the Committee’s request to indicate the number of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease reported in comparison with the number of investigations actually conducted, as well as the action taken following these investigations, merely states that 162 cases of occupational disease were reported to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health services (DOSH) without providing further details. The Committee also notes the information contained in the annual report of the Commissioner for Labour for 2011 on the total of 6,033 accidents in 2011, disaggregated by economic sector (of which 249 were fatal, and 5,774 non-fatal), and the indication that no data are available on the number of occupational diseases. The Committee has previously noted that section 25 of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act provides for the development and maintenance of an effective programme for the collection, compilation and analysis of OSH statistics covering occupational accidents and diseases, as well as the existence of an accident database in which information sent through the relevant accident reporting form (DOSH 1) is entered. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest the reference in the 2011 annual report of the Commissioner for Labour that arrangements to disaggregate data are being introduced. It also notes the indication in the Government’s report that the Labour Department is currently developing a database which will improve the data capture system and the collection of OSH statistics, and therefore give effect to the above section of the OSH Act. However, the Committee notes that the Government has not responded to its request to provide information on the measures taken to sensitize medical practitioners, which was indicated as a major cause of the inadequate functioning of the system of notification to the DOSH in practice. The Committee once again asks the Government to indicate the number of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease reported in comparison with the number of investigations actually conducted, as well as the action taken following these investigations (improvement or prohibition notices, prosecutions and penalties imposed). It also once again asks the Government to take measures to sensitize medical practitioners (e.g. through awareness campaigns, the distribution of brochures or the organization of training sessions).

Please also provide information on any further progress made in the development of the above database to improve the data capture system and the collection of OSH statistics.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.