Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148) - Seychelles (Ratification: 1999)

1. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s first and second reports including reference to the Occupational Safety and Health Decree, Chapter 151, 1978 (revised edition 1991) ("Decree"). According to available information, this Decree has been amended by the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Decree, 20 October 1999 ("Amendment Decree"), and relevant legislation also includes the Occupational Safety and Health (Construction Industry, Confined Space and Welding) Regulations, 1991 ("Construction Regulations") and the Occupational Safety and Health (Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 1997 ("Workplace Regulations"). While the present comments are based on publicly available copies of this legislation, the Committee requests the Government, with its next report, to provide copies of all relevant laws and regulations. The Committee also requests the Government to provide further information on the following points.

2. Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Consultations with representative organizations of employers and workers. The Committee notes that the report is silent on whether the consultations called for in this provision of the Convention have been held. The Government is requested to indicate the manner in which the representative organizations of employers and workers concerned were consulted before taking the decision to accept the obligations in respect of all the categories of hazards.

3. Article 4. Measures taken or envisaged to prevent and control occupational hazards due to air pollution, noise and vibration. The Committee notes that available legislation includes a Decree which constitutes the general framework including duties and rights of employers and workers (Parts I-II), the administration of occupational safety and health through an occupational safety and health board ("OSH board") (Part III), the appointment of officers with supervisory and regular monitoring functions (Part IV), provisions for issuing orders (Part V), obtaining information (Part VI) and penalties (Part VIII). The Workplace Regulations regulate and provide limits for exposure to "air pollution" (section 12), "noise" (section 13) and "vibration" (section 10). The Construction Regulations also contain provisions concerning air pollution (section 19) and noise (section 17). Section 40 of the Construction Regulations entitles the competent authority to provide exemptions from their application when it is "satisfied that compliance with all or any provisions of these regulations are not necessary for the protection of an employee". The Government is requested to indicate how the provisions to control and limit exposure to air pollution, noise and vibration are applied in practice and whether and on what conditions exemptions are granted from their application. The Government is also requested to indicate whether any further protective and preventive measures have been taken or are envisaged to give full effect to the provisions in Articles 8 and 9 of the Convention.

4. Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2, and Article 7, paragraph 2. Participation of employers and workers and representatives of their organizations. The Committee notes the information provided that representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations participate in the activities of the Occupational Safety and Health Board that has been set up and that workers also are entitled to present proposals before this Board or before the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs. The Committee also notes, however, that the quorum rules for this Board recently have been amended so as to no longer require the presence of a representative of all three groups, i.e. the Government, employers and employee groups. The Government is requested to indicate how the Occupational Safety and Health Board functions in practice, whether and to what extent workers and representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations actually participate in its activities and whether and to what extent the new quorum rules have been applied.

5. Article 5, paragraph 4. Participation of employer or worker representatives in labour inspection. The Committee notes that the Government reports that there are no specific provisions which provide a right for employers’ or workers’ representatives to accompany an inspector supervising the application of the measures prescribed in this Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures it has taken or envisages in order to comply with this provision of the Convention.

6. Article 6, paragraph 2. Cooperation between two or more employers at a workplace. The Committee notes, that in its report on the application of this provision, the Government refers to section 6 of the Decree which provides that "any person having control of premises which are used as a place of work by persons not in his employment or in which there is any plant or substance provided for use by persons not in his employment, to ensure that the premises, plant or substances are safe and without risk to health". The Government is requested to clarify how section 6 of the Decree is applied in practice and how it contributes to ensuring that two or more employers at one workplace collaborate in order to apply prescribed measures for the protection of the health and safety of their employees.

7. Article 7, paragraph 2. Workers’ right to appeal to appropriate bodies. The Committee notes that the Government’s report and relevant legislation is silent on the question of workers’ right to appeal to appropriate bodies prescribed in the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures it has taken or envisages in order to comply with this provision of the Convention.

8. Article 8, paragraphs 1 and 3. Criteria for determining and reviewing hazards of exposure to air pollution, noise and vibration. The Committee notes that according to the Workplace Regulations (sections 12, 10 and 13 respectively), air pollution, noise and vibration are to be monitored, controlled and maintained below certain limits and that the Seychelles Bureau of Standards should further specify the injurious maximum levels of specific hazardous dusts, gases or substances (section 12(2), paragraph 2) and that this institution also assists the Ministry in measuring noise levels. The report is silent, however, as regards measures taken regularly to supplement and review these criteria and exposure limits in the light of current knowledge and data taking into account as far as possible any increase in occupational hazards resulting from simultaneous exposure to several harmful factors at the workplace. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how sections 10, 12 and 13 of the Occupational Safety and Health (Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 1997, are applied in practice, whether the Seychelles Bureau of Standards has further specified the levels of exposure to specific hazardous dusts, gases or substances pursuant to section 12(2), paragraph 2, and whether measures have been taken or are envisaged to review the criteria and exposure limits in the light of current national and international knowledge.

9. Article 9. Prevention of air pollution, noise and vibration through design and installations of new plants or processes or through organizational measures. The Committee notes that the Government in its report refers to the general requirement in the Decree that the working environment as far as possible is to be kept free from hazards, but that the report is silent on measures taken to control air pollution, noise or vibration by technical measures applied to new plant or processes in design or installation or by supplementary organizational measures. The Committee requests the Government to indicate measures taken or envisaged to give effect to the provisions in Article 9 concerning control of occupational hazards due to air pollution, noise and vibration.

10. Article 10. Provision of personal protective equipment. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to sections 4 and 8 of the Decree which prescribe a general duty for the employer to provide personal protective equipment ("PPE") as part of "all practicable measures" it should take to protect the safety and health of its employees and the requirement that employees use and take care of the PPE provided. These provisions are reflected in more detailed requirements in section 25 of the Workplace Regulations and in sections 16, 17 and 19 of the Construction Regulations. These provisions do not, however, include criteria specifying when PPE is to be provided and used. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how the provisions requiring employers to provide PPE are applied in practice, in particular how it is determined when PPE is to be provided and used.

11. Article 11, paragraphs 3 and 4. Provision of alternative employment and preservation of rights under social security or other social insurance legislation. The Committee notes that the report and available legislation is silent on the question of the right of workers to alternative employment and as regards the preservation of workers’ rights under social security or other social insurance legislation. The Committee would appreciate it if the Government would indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure compliance with the provisions concerning the right of workers to alternative employment and the preservation of their rights under social security or other social insurance legislation.

12. Article 12. Processes, substances, machinery and equipment requiring notification to the competent authorities. The Committee notes the reference in the report on the application of this provision to Parts II-VI of the Amendment Decree. The Committee notes that these parts appear to relate to the requirements for notification of accidents and diseases resulting, inter alia, from certain processes, substances, machinery and equipment listed in the schedule in Part V. It is thus not clear from the report whether and to what extent the schedules in the Amendment Decree also are used in the context of a system of authorizations or prescription of conditions for engaging in activities involving certain processes, substances, machinery and equipment. The Committee therefore requests the Government to clarify how the schedule in Part V of the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Decree, 20 October 1999, is used in practice and to indicate whether a system of authorizations or prescription of conditions for engaging in activities involving certain processes, substances, machinery and equipment has been set up and, if so, how it has been applied in practice.

13. Part IV of the report form. The Committee would appreciate it if the Government also could provide a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, in accordance with Part IV of the report form, including, for instance, extracts from the reports of inspection services, and available and relevant statistical information, disaggregated by sex, if possible.