Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Tunisia (Ratification: 1957)

Articles 5(a), and 21(b) and (c) of the Convention. Useful cooperation to set up a register of workplaces liable to inspection. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, full particulars of workplaces liable to inspection are not available. It nonetheless welcomes the information that the Ministry of Social Affairs is making efforts to compile a register of this kind with the cooperation of the National Social Security Fund and all the institutions concerned. The Committee cannot overemphasize how important it is to set up and regularly update a register of workplaces containing, in accordance with Article 21(c) of the Convention, information on workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers they employ, to serve as a tool for assessing the coverage rate of the labour inspection service and identifying measures for its improvement. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position in its next report to provide statistics of the workplaces subject to inspection and the number of workers they employ, and that it will ensure that in future this information is contained in the annual report on the work of the labour inspection services.

Article 10. Strength of the inspectorate staff. The Committee notes the distribution of labour inspectors by post and by grade, contained in the annual inspection report for 2009. It requests the Government to send updated information on the number of labour inspectors in service, specifying the categories and the number of labour inspectors who carry out visits to the workplaces.

Articles 14 and 21(f) and (g). Statistics of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that employers are required to report an occupational accident or case of occupational disease within three working days of the date on which it was notified to them, even if the victim has continued to work, in accordance with section 63 of Act No. 94-28 of 21 February 1994 establishing a system of compensation for injury resulting from an occupational accident or occupational disease. The report must be drawn up in triplicate and sent to the National Sickness Insurance Fund (CNAM); to the police or national guard station closest to the place of the accident or to the workplace of the victim; and to the labour inspection office of the geographical area. The Government further states that there is close cooperation between the labour inspection services and the CNAM, the Directorate of Medical and Occupational Safety Inspection and the Occupational Health and Safety Institute, through scheduled visits to monitor occupational safety and health in a very large number of workplaces where serious accidents have occurred and in sectors with a high rate of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease, such as the building and public works sector. The CNAM produces a quarterly report containing statistics of occupational accidents and cases of occupational diseases compiled from the information provided in the report forms submitted to it. These statistics serve as a basis on which to develop a dynamic national occupational safety and health policy. In accordance with section 88 of Act No. 94-28 of 21 February 1994, the CNAM transmits these statistics to the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Public Health. However, according to the Government, the CNAM will in future send an annual report on statistics of occupational accidents and diseases to the Directorate General of Labour Inspection and Conciliation, to enable it to discharge its preventive duties in full. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of any texts adopted under section 63 of the abovementioned Act that concern the reporting obligation placed on employers, together with a copy of the standard report form, indicating any penalties applicable for breach of this obligation. It would be grateful if the Government would ensure that, in future, annual inspection reports contain statistics of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease, as prescribed by Article 21(f) and (g) of the Convention.

Articles 17 and 18. Information on action taken on unheeded notices and on reports. The Government indicates that the number of notices unheeded by offenders is equal to the number of reports submitted to the courts, which means that for the remainder of the notices issued, the offenders took remedial action. The Committee again notes that the reports for 2008 and 2009 on the work of the labour inspection services give the numbers of notices served by labour inspectors and of inspectors’ reports submitted to the courts, but that information on the action taken by the courts has not been provided, either in the abovementioned reports or otherwise. The Committee accordingly asks the Government once again to provide information on the action taken by the judicial authorities on reports of offences, and to ensure that in future relevant statistics on the subject are included in annual inspection reports.

Articles 20 and 21. Preparation and communication of an annual report on the work of the inspection services. The Committee takes note of the annual inspection reports for 2008 and 2009, sent by the Government in October 2013. It notes that, according to the Government, the Office for Studies, Planning and Programming of the Ministry of Social Affairs publishes the annual reports as an insertion in the Ministry’s Statistical Guide. The Committee requests the Government to take steps to ensure that annual inspection reports containing the information set out in Article 21(a)–(g), are in future published and communicated to the ILO within the time limit prescribed by Article 20. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that the annual reports for 2010, 2011 and 2012 are published and communicated to the ILO without delay.