Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1988, published 75th ILC session (1988)

Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (No. 152) - Spain (Ratification: 1982)

I. The Committee takes note of the Government's report and the legislation appended to it. It notes the replies to its previous comments and particularly the information concerning the application of the following Articles of the Convention: Article 13, paragraphs 4 to 6 (safety measures in the event of the cleaning, adjustment and repair of machines); Article 22, paragraphs 1, 3 and 4, and Articles 23 and 24, paragraph 1 (testing, from the point of view of their operation and safety measures, of every lifting appliance and every item of loose gear before putting it into use for the first time, after any substantial alteration or repair and at regular intervals).

II. With regard to the other points that it raised in its previous comments, the Committee would note the following:

1. Articles 1 and 2 (definition of dock work and exceptions concerning certain docks where the traffic is irregular, as well as in respect of fishing vessels). The Government refers in its report to the adoption of new legislation respecting the working conditions of persons engaged in dock work, namely Royal Legislative Decree No. 2 of 23 May 1986 and the various regulations issued thereunder. By virtue of this legislation, the above workers acquire the status of public employees and come under the authority, with regard to their employment relationship, of state companies set up by virtue of the regulations issued under the above Legislative Decree. The Government states in its report that the new legislation, which repealed the 1974 Ordinance on dock work, was formulated and adopted after consultations with all the occupational organisations concerned, and not only the most representative organisations.

The Committee takes due note of this statement and requests the Government to indicate:

(a) whether the loading and unloading of certain ships (including fishing vessels of under 100 gross tons) which are not included in the definition of dock work for the purposes of the application of this legislation, by virtue of section 2(a), (c) and (f) of Legislative Decree No. 2/1986 and of section 3(a), (c) and (f) of Royal Decree No. 371 of 13 March 1987 to implement the regulations issued under the above Legislative Decree, are performed in conditions of safety ensuring advantages corresponding to those set forth in the Convention, in accordance with Article 2, paragraphs 1(a) and 2, and, if so, to cite the provisions that are applicable in this respect;

(b) whether the new legislation on dock work is made applicable, in practice, to ports in the country (including internal navigation ports) which are not considered to be "of general interest", as provided for by section 1, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree No. 2/1986; if this is not the case, the Committee wishes to be informed of the provisions concerning health and safety measures that are applicable to workers engaged in dock work in the above ports.

2. Article 16, paragraph 2 (transport of workers on land). Please indicate the means used for the transport of workers to and from a workplace on land and the safeguards provided for their safety during this transport, in accordance with the above provision of the Convention; the regulations respecting road traffic and the inspection of vehicles in general, referred to in the report, are not sufficient to give full effect to the Convention on this point.

3. Article 25 (records, certificates and registers). The Committee notes that section 103 of the General Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance of 1971, to which the Government refers, provides that the results of the examination and tests of lifting appliances, and the necessary repairs, shall be recorded in an appropriate book. It requests the Government to indicate: (a) whether certificates providing prima facie evidence of the safe condition of these appliances, and of items of loose gear, are also established by authorised persons; and (b) whether the "appropriate book", referred to in section 103 above, corresponds to the register laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 25 of the Convention in the sense that it contains the information set forth in this provision, account being taken of the models recommended by the International Labour Office with regard, where appropriate, to the testing, thorough examination and inspection of such appliances. (Please supply a copy of the above documents in accordance with the report form for this Convention.)

4. Article 31 (safety measures regarding containers). The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government concerning the national provisions giving effect to the International Convention on Safety in the Use of Containers of 1972. The Committee requests the Government to supply with its next report the text of the Order, dated 31 July 1979, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Energy, and relevant extracts of the regulations on the internal organisation of Spanish ports, referred to by the Government in its report.