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

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1949)

Referring to its observation, the Committee would like to raise the following additional points.

Article 3(1)(b) of the Convention. Provision of technical information and advice. The Committee notes with interest that, according to the Government, rooms have been made available to the public in all the branches of the General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency (GLIEA), where labour inspectors provide advice and guidance to employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises, and to workers on ways to guarantee healthy and safe working conditions. The Committee asks the Government to supply information, with accompanying statistics, on the impact of these information and advisory activities with respect to the application of the legislation on occupational safety and health (OSH).

Article 4. Placing labour inspection under the supervision and control of a central authority. The Committee notes that the Government has not supplied the information it requested on this point in its previous comments. Consequently, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the labour inspection policy adopted by the Council of Ministers, by virtue of section 9(1) of the Labour Inspection Act, as well as an organizational chart of the labour inspection system, specifying the functions entrusted to the central authority. The Committee also once again asks the Government to provide details on the activities of the National Labour Inspection Council (NLIC) and their results, and to send an annual report on the activities of this body, if available.

Articles 5(a) and 9. Effective cooperation between the inspection services and other government services and public institutions. As regards approved private safety and health services, the Government states that their activities are defined under Ordinance No. 3 of 25 January 2008, issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. In accordance with this Ordinance, the monitoring of these services is entrusted to the state health control agency, and focuses on recording and verifying the compliance of data and current documents, implementing outsourced activities linked to workers’ health, and documents recording the service’s main activities. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken or envisaged to promote effective cooperation between the labour inspection services and the state health control agency to ensure that the approved agencies dispensing safety and health services ensure the application, in the enterprises that they cover, of the relevant legislation.

Recalling also that, in a previous report, the Government indicated that the labour inspectorate did not have enough civil engineers and specialists with medical training because of the considerable wage gap between the public administration and the private sector, the Committee would be grateful if the Government could send information on any measures taken or envisaged to ensure the collaboration of such experts or technicians with the labour inspection services, including by means of agreements with the relevant institutions.

Article 5(b). Collaboration between officials of the labour inspectorate and employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes that, according to the 2011 GLIEA report, the major violation in the field of OSH concerns the organization and management of activities to guarantee OSH, and that one of the main causes of the situation is the assignment of these activities to staff who have neither the necessary competencies or knowledge of OSH legislation and regulations. These infringements are related to the instructions and training that are required for staff and those responsible for safety (13,438 cases); to the lack of the necessary documents (5,124 cases); and risk assessment (7,040 cases). Noting that the second most frequently observed infringement in the area of OSH concerns the safety of working equipment and technologies, particularly electrical equipment and technologies, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to Paragraph 7 of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81), concerning measures that might be taken to ensure that employers and workers are given instruction in matters of OSH. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the measures taken to ensure that employers and workers are instructed in the area of OSH. The Committee also requests the Government once again to provide a copy of Ordinance No. 3 of 25 January 2008 regulating the terms and conditions of OSH activities.

Articles 6 and 10. Status and conditions of service of labour inspectors. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, there are 384 labour inspectors, of whom 201 are chief inspectors. There are also 83 senior inspectors; 36 inspectors; a principal legal adviser; 26 senior legal advisers; 16 legal advisers; four young experts; 15 senior experts; and two state inspectors. The Committee recalls that, in its previous comments, it noted that, according to the Government, the general labour inspectorate consisted of 463 employees “with assigned powers of labour inspectors” and that, during the period from January to September 2009, 49 officials of the GLIEA’s staff, including 20 labour inspectors, had resigned, mainly because of the low level of salaries, the heavy workload and stress. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would: (a) indicate the grounds for this significant reduction in the number of labour inspectors; and (b) specify which officials, among the abovementioned categories of inspectors, carry out inspection visits in the workplaces liable to inspection under the Convention. Drawing the Government’s attention to paragraphs 209, 214 et seq. of its 2006 General Survey on labour inspection, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to retain skilled and experienced staff and to guarantee them the independence required in the exercise of their inspection duties (improvement of career prospects and salary scale compared to other comparable categories of public officials).

Article 12(2). Right of inspectors to enter workplaces without prior notice. The Committee notes that the Government did not enclose, contrary to indications in its report, an extract from the “Guidelines for planning, implementing and reporting the activities of the GLIEA”, in the section entitled “Inspection – Stages and procedures” (page 41), which, according to the Government, gives effect to this provision of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that this text is attached to the Government’s next report.

Article 21. Content of the annual activities report. Referring to its 2010 general observation on the importance of the annual labour inspection report, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the guidance contained in Paragraph 9 of Recommendation No. 81, on the way in which the information contained in this report should be presented and disaggregated. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the annual inspection reports are drafted and published in such a way as to give an overview of the functioning of the labour inspection system. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would also ensure that these reports contain information on each of the matters dealt with in Article 21(a)–(g) of the Convention.