Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Guarding of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119) - Algeria (Ratification: 1969)

1. Article 2, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Convention. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report that Executive Decree No. 90-245 of 18 August 1990 applicable to gas pressure machinery and Executive Decree No. 90-246 of 18 August 1990 applicable to steam pressure machinery. The Committee notes with interest the provisions of these Decrees that meet the requirements of Article 2 of the Convention with respect to gas and vapour pressure machinery.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would adopt similar measures of general application to machinery covered by the Convention as a whole to supplement the provision of section 8 of Act 88-07 of 26 January 1988 and thus ensure the application of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 2 of the Convention. In this regard the Committee wishes to reiterate its previous comments that the objective of Article 2 of the Convention is to guarantee that machines are safe before they reach the user, whereas the provisions of Executive Decree No. 91-05 of 19 January 1991 respecting general safety provisions concern the guarding of machinery once it is in use.

The Committee again draws the attention of the Government to paragraphs 73 et seq. of its 1987 General Survey on safety and the working environment where it indicates that it is essential for the effective application of Part II of the Convention that national legislation designate those parts of machinery that present danger and require appropriate guarding (paragraph 82) and that, until there has been a determination of the machinery and parts thereof that present danger, the prohibition of the sale, hire, transfer in any other manner and exhibition of machinery contained in Article 2 of the Convention remains ineffective.

The Committee recalls its previous reference to paragraph 85 of the 1987 General Survey to indicate that the definition of dangerous machinery and parts thereof should as a minimum cover all those parts enumerated in Article 2 of the Convention.

2. Article 4. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government's report and the provisions of Executive Decree Nos. 90-245 and 90-246 of 18 August 1990. It notes that these Decrees do not fully reply to its previous comments. The Committee recalls that section 8 of Act No. 88-07 which prohibits the manufacture, exhibition, putting up for sale, sale, import, hire or transfer in any other manner of machinery that is dangerous, with a view to its use, does not explicitly lay down the responsibility of all those who are involved in the manufacture and delivery of the machinery: the manufacturer, the vendor, the person letting out on hire or transferring the machinery in any other manner, or the exhibitor, and their respective agents. The Committee refers to paragraphs 164 to 175 of its 1987 General Survey on safety and the working environment, in which it observes that the general prohibition from manufacturing, selling, hiring or transferring in any other manner machinery which is dangerous is inadequate if it is not accompanied by a provision explicitly requiring these provisions to be applied to the manufacturer, vendor, the person letting out on hire or transferring the machinery in any manner or their respective agents, in order to comply with Article 4 of the Convention which expressly establishes the responsibility of these persons, and to avoid any ambiguity. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on measures taken or under consideration to ensure that the responsibility of the categories of persons mentioned in Article 4 are explicitly established in national legislation as well as the sanctions applicable in case of violation.

3. Articles 6 and 7. The Committee notes that the Government's report and the provisions of Act No. 88-07 do not fully reply to its previous comments that the use of machinery, any parts of which, including the point of operation, is without appropriate guards, is not prohibited. It recalls its previous indications that sections 40-43 of the Executive Decree No. 91-05, while requiring the dangerous parts of machines to be guarded, they do not expressly prohibit the use of machines, the dangerous parts of which are not guarded. The Committee refers again to paragraph 180 of its 1987 General Survey on safety and the working environment, where it is stated that Article 6, paragraph 1, of the Convention is formulated as a general prohibition to be included in the national legislation and that, in order to observe this provision, it is not enough to require the guarding of machines which are used without at the same time requiring that the use of machines without appropriate guards is forbidden.

The Committee recalls the need for the legislation to be clear that the obligation to ensure compliance with this prohibition rests on the employer, in accordance with Article 7 of the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to give effect to the provisions of the Convention on these points.