Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Sao Tome and Principe (Ratification: 1982)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which reads as follows:

The Committee notes the Government’s report as well as the adoption of Decree No. 69/95 that approved the Statute of Labour Inspection. It requests the Government to provide further information on the following points:

Article 3 of the Convention.  Please indicate whether any additional duties were entrusted to labour inspectors and whether any measures have been taken or envisaged in order to ensure that such additional duties do not interfere with the effective discharge of inspectors’ primary duties.

Article 6.  The Committee asks the Government to provide information enabling it to compare the average annual salary of labour inspectors with that of public officials and the average annual wage in Sao Tome and Principe.

Article 8.  Please indicate the current percentage of women appointed to the inspection staff in general and to each of the levels of the labour inspection, indicated in Annex I to the Statute of the Labour Inspection, in particular.

Article 9.  The Committee notes the indication in the Government’s report that the staff of the labour inspection does not include specialists in medicine, engineering, electricity, chemistry etc. The Committee further notes that in accordance with article 11 of the Statute of the Labour Inspection, the labour inspection in the process of performance of its functions can request the collaboration of any administrative or police authorities. The Committee also notes that in accordance with paragraph 3 of article 12 of the Statute of Labour Inspection, the inspection staff in carrying out its duties can request to be accompanied by technical specialists from other public services, as well as by technical specialists of associations of employers or workers, if they possess the appropriate credentials for the entity to be inspected and the respective tasks to be performed. The Committee asks the Government to indicate: (i) whether such technical specialists actually participate in the inspection visits; (ii) what is the overall number of inspection visits with their participation; and (iii) what are the other forms of their collaboration with labour inspectors.

Article 10.  The Committee asks the Government to indicate the current number of labour inspectors.

Article 11(1)(b).  The Committee notes that in accordance with paragraph 1 of article 18 of the Statute of Labour Inspection, the executive and technical personnel of the labour inspection, when they are at work, have the right to use free of charge the means of collective public road transportation. The Committee further notes the indication in the Government’s report that the labour inspectorate does not have its own means of transportation and, therefore, it needs to ask other public services to allow the use of such facilities which results in low efficiency of inspection services. The Committee recalls its comments made on several occasions that the frequency of inspection visits depends, inter alia, on the availability of transport. The Committee hopes that the Government will take necessary steps to provide inspectors with suitable transport facilities and asks the Government to indicate measures taken or envisaged in this respect.

Article 14.  The Committee notes the indication in the report that proper attention was previously not given to the notification of the labour inspectorate of industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, but that this matter was taken into consideration in the process of preparation of new labour legislation. The Committee asks the Government to provide information about any progress made in this respect.

Article 15.  The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the practical application of Article 15(a), of the Convention and, in particular, the criteria and the procedure for its enforcement.

Article 16.  The Committee asks the Government to indicate: (i) the total number of workplaces liable to inspection; (ii) the number of initial and second inspection visits made and the number of workplaces inspected during the latest reporting period; and (iii) the usual period between two consecutive planned inspections at a given workplace. Please describe the manner in which inspection visits are conducted in practice.

Article 20.  The Committee notes that no copy of the annual general report of the central inspection authority of Sao Tome and Principe was received. The Committee asks the Government to provide a copy of such report within the time limits set forth by Article 20, paragraph 3, of the Convention and to describe the procedure for access to such report by an interested party.

Article 21.  The Committee asks the Government to take into consideration that annual reports published by the central inspection authority shall deal in particular with the subjects listed in Article 21 of the Convention, including, but not limited to, statistics of industrial accidents and statistics of occupational diseases (Article 21(f) and (g)).