Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Guarding of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119) - Sierra Leone (Ratification: 1964)

For a number of years, the Committee has drawn the attention of the Government to the fact that the national legislation does not contain provisions to give effect to Part II of the Convention (prohibition of the sale, hire, transfer in any other manner and exhibition of unguarded machinery) and that it does not provide for the full application of Article 17 of the Convention (which applies to all sectors of economic activity), as national laws do not apply to certain branches of activity, such as sea, air or land transport, and mining.

Since 1979, in reply to the Committee’s comments, the Government has indicated that a Bill to revise the 1974 Factories Act was being drafted, which would contain provisions consistent with those of the Convention, and would apply to all branches of economic activity. In its report submitted in 1986, the Government indicated that the draft Factories Bill, 1985, which contained provisions to give effect to Part II of the Convention, had been examined by the competent parliamentary committee and submitted to Parliament for adoption. The Committee requested the Government to indicate the stage of adoption of the Bill.

In its report, the Government indicates that the Factories Bill has not been adopted and that, in 2018, the Factory Inspectorate was renamed the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health and that a new instrument entitled “the Occupational Safety and Health Bill” has been drafted.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the OSH-related duties and responsibilities of the Factory Inspectorate. It also expresses the hope that the draft Occupational Safety and Health Bill will be adopted in the near future and will contain provisions which would give effect to Part II and Article 17 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of this text, once it has been adopted.