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

Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184) - Argentina (Ratification: 2006)

Article 4(1) of the Convention. Formulation, implementation and periodical review of a coherent national policy on safety and health in agriculture after consulting the representative organizations of employers and workers concerned. The Committee notes that on 21 November 2012 the National Policy on Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment was approved by the Standing Advisory Committee on the Occupational Risks Act, which is a tripartite body, as set out in the Argentinian Occupational Safety and Health Strategy 2011–15, which also provides that the national policy is to be implemented and periodically reviewed, in consultation with the representative organizations of employers and workers and the other state bodies with competence for the matters addressed. It also notes with interest that, with respect to the scope of application of the Convention, the National Agricultural Labour Committee (CNTA), which is tripartite in composition, has extensive powers and periodically reviews the occupational safety and health (OSH) situation. The Committee requests the Government to provide more information on the principles and priorities of its national OSH policy in relation to the issues covered by the Convention and on the consultations held during the period covered by the next report.

Article 4(2)(b). National policy. Specification in national laws and regulations of the rights and duties of employers and workers with respect to occupational safety and health in agriculture. The Committee notes with interest Act No. 26727, of 21 December 2011, on the agrarian labour system, Title VII of which on safety and health establishes the rights and duties of workers and employers in relation to OSH. It notes in particular that section 45 of the Act establishes the right of workers to refuse to work in the event of imminent danger of injury or, if the competent body has declared the workplace unsafe, the employer fails to implement the measures indicated by the authority. This section also contains provisions on the obligation of the employer to provide safety materials and equipment, to be responsible for cleaning the worker’s clothes in the case of work that involves the processing or handling of toxic, irritant or aggressive substances and the treatment of hazardous wastes. The Committee also notes that section 17 of Act No. 26727 refers to temporary employment contracts and that the CNTA issued Resolution No. 11, of 5 April 2011, on working and housing conditions for all workers carrying out periodic or occasional work or specific assignments, and that it is supplemented by Resolution No. 46 of 28 July 2011 and Resolution No. 76 of 2 December 2011. It further notes that section 18 of Act No. 26727 provides that, when temporary workers are hired by the same employer on more than one occasion consecutively, they shall be considered as intermittent permanent workers and have equal rights to permanent workers. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on any legislative changes relating to the Convention.

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