Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174) - Estonia (Ratification: 2000)

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Article 20(c)(iii) of the Convention. Consultations with workers and their representatives. Accident reports. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, pursuant to section 24(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1999, as amended (OSH Act), employers shall investigate all occupational accidents and diseases, with the participation of workers’ representatives. The Government further indicates that employers must make the relevant information, including investigation results, available to employee representatives. The Committee nevertheless observes that section 24 of the OSH Act concerns situations where a worker has already been injured (pursuant to the definition of occupational accident in section 22 of the Act). The Committee recalls that, under Article 3 of the Convention, the term “major accident” is defined as a sudden occurrence – such as a major emission, fire or explosion – in the course of an activity within a major hazard installation, involving one or more hazardous substances and leading to a serious danger to workers, the public or the environment, whether immediate or delayed. The Committee thus requests the Government to provide further information on how it is ensured, in law and in practice, that workers and their representatives shall be consulted in the preparation of, and have access to, accident reports (Article 20(c)(iii) of the Convention), taking into account the definition of “major accident” under Article 3.