Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (No. 152) - Netherlands (Ratification: 1998)

The Committee observes that the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) submitted observations in August 2017 indicating that, although the law gave effect to the Convention, in practice its implementation could be improved by addressing certain matters the Committee refers to hereunder.

Article 38(2) of the Convention. Minimum age limit for workers operating lifting appliances. In previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to indicate the measures taken, in law and in practice, to ensure that young persons above the age of 16 and below the age of 18 who can operate a lifting or other cargo-handling appliance are persons under training, as required by this Article of the Convention. The Committee notes that, in its latest report, the Government refers to sections 1.36, 1.37 and 7.18 of the Working Conditions Decree, 1997, as giving effect to this Article of the Convention. The Government states that section 1.36 of the Decree obliges the employer to carry out a specific assessment of the risks and take the necessary precautions if persons under 18 years of age are involved. It adds that the supervision of young workers operating cranes is always for training purposes and that in the event that a young worker is found to be operating cranes without supervision during an inspection, a fine would be imposed on the employer.

In this regard, the Committee notes the allegations of the FNV pointing out that although the Working Conditions Decree, 1997, provides that young workers can only perform lifting or other load handling work under training and that the mandatory guidance of an experienced colleague is required, in practice in many port terminals, too many young workers, without sufficient training, operate lifting machines without the proper supervision of an experienced worker. According to the FNV, although there should be a supervisor on each shift, in practice, the latter mainly carries out his own activities and does not supervise the young trainees. Finally, the FNV points out that the lack of expertise of the labour inspectorate on the specificities of the lifting work in ports is detrimental to the adequate protection of young trainees under the age of 18 operating a lifting or other cargo-handling appliance. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that young trainees above the age of 16 and under the age of 18 operate lifting or other cargo-handling appliances under appropriate supervision, as required by the law and this Article of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide any available record of the labour inspectorate on the number of contraventions reported and the sanctions imposed.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government according to which, between January 2017 and December 2021, around 100 inspections were carried out on dock work, 60 of which took place after an accident occurred. The Government also reports five fatalities among the accidents reported. Furthermore, the Committee takes note of the observations of the FNV in relation to the statistics provided in 2017 by the Government and whereby the union regrets that fatal accidents are not systematically investigated by the labour inspectorate and that there is a lack of transparency on the decisions to investigate. According to the union, this is illustrative of the lack of knowledge of the specificities of dock work by the labour inspectorate and the Government should take corrective measures in this regard. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed information on the practical application of the Convention, including statistical information on the number of occupational accidents, the number of workers covered by the legislation, as well as the number and nature of violations reported, and the measures taken in this regard. In addition, the Committee requests the Government to indicate any measures taken or envisaged to address the concerns expressed by the FNV in relation to the need to train the labour inspectorate on the specificities of the work performed in port terminals and to ensure that, when fatal accidents occur, they are investigated in a more transparent manner and their outcome duly reported.