Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1984)

1. Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee refers to the information provided by the Government in its 1994 report, according to which the National Council on Prevention, Health and Safety at Work undertook, in consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers, to draw up the plans and programmes of a national policy on the health, safety and welfare of workers in their place of work. Since it has not received any information on the progress made in this respect, the Committee requests the Government to indicate what stage has been reached in the process of preparing the necessary documents as integral components of the coherent national policy on occupational safety, occupational health and the working environment.

Furthermore, with reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the review of the Regulations contained in the Basic Act on prevention, working conditions and the working environment is being finalized, and that the revised text will contain a series of reforms relating to the Regulations in force. The Committee hopes that the revised text of the Regulations will enable the national policy in respect of the occupational safety and health of workers and the working environment to be fully implemented for all branches of economic activity.

2. Article 5. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government indicates in its last report that a provision establishing the joint responsibility of all entities involved in occupational accidents or diseases has been included in the revised text of the Regulations. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in what form and to what extent the national policy in respect of the occupational safety and health of workers takes into account the sphere of communication and cooperation at the levels of the working group and the undertaking and at all appropriate levels up to and including the national level (Article 5(d)), and to provide an indication of the relationships between, on the one hand, the material elements of work and the persons who carry out or supervise the work, and on the other hand, the adaptation of machinery, equipment, working time, organization of work and work processes to the physical and mental capacities of the workers (Article 5(b)).

3. Article 8. The Committee notes with interest the progress made in reviewing the Regulations contained in the Basic Act on prevention, working conditions and the working environment, and requests the Government to provide a copy of the new text of the Regulations when they have been adopted. The Committee notes the fact that the Ministry of Labour is currently being restructured to establish a single body of overall supervisors (for employment, labour, industrial safety and hygiene), which will ensure that precautionary, preventive and protective measures are taken in respect of workers. The Committee hopes that such measures will make the national occupational safety and health policy more effective, and the system of inspection responsible for the enforcement of laws and regulations in this area (Article 9) more appropriate.

4. Article 11. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government's statement that the provisions of this Article of the Convention will be analysed with a view to inserting them in the revised text of the Regulations contained in the Basic Act on prevention, working conditions and the working environment. The Committee hopes that the text in question will give full effect to this Article. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken by the competent authorities to ensure the discharge of functions such as the determination of conditions governing the design and construction of undertakings, the commencement of their operations and major alterations affecting them (paragraph (a)); the determination of work processes which are prohibited, limited or made subject to authorization or control by the competent authorities (paragraph (b)); the establishment and application of procedures for the notification of occupational accidents and diseases by employers (paragraph (c)); the holding of inquiries, where cases of occupational accidents, occupational diseases or any other injuries to health which arise in the course of or in connection with work (paragraph (d)); and the publication, annually, of information on measures taken in pursuance of the policy on occupational safety, occupational health and the working environment (paragraph (e)).