Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

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

Legislation. The Committee notes the reference by the Government in its report to the large amount of legislation adopted on occupational safety and health, such as Royal Decree No. 2177/2004 of 12 November, amending Royal Decree No. 1215/1997 of 18 July, establishing minimum safety and health provisions for the use by workers of work equipment in relation to temporary work at heights. Nevertheless, a large part of the legislation referred to is of a general nature and the Government does not provide information on the respective provisions of the legislation that relate to the application of the Convention. The Committee also refers to its latest comments on the application of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), in which it noted that in recent years the national legislation has distanced itself from the traditional approach of considering occupational safety and health from the viewpoint of the compensation of damage, and replaced it with a fundamentally preventive approach. It further notes that, in its 2009 report on Convention No. 155, the Government refers to the approval, on 29 June 2007, of the Spanish Occupational Safety and Health Strategy 2007–2012, setting out a series of objectives for public policies. The Committee also notes that changes are occurring in relation to the application of the Convention, such as the submission on 27 March 2009 by the Council of Ministers to the Cortes Generales of a bill on ports which is under examination. Taking into account the major transformations that have occurred recently in this area, resulting in far-reaching legislative changes, the Committee requests the Government to provide a detailed report on the manner in which the legislation gives effect to the Convention. The Committee requests the Government, when preparing its report, to indicate clearly the legal provisions and sections which give expression in law to each of the Articles of the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on any developments relating to the Ports Act as it relates to the application of the Convention.

Technical standards. The Committee takes this opportunity to draw the Government’s attention to the ILO code of practice on safety and health in ports (Geneva, 2005), which may be of use to it in the formulation of technical standards to give effect to the Convention. The code of practice is available on the ILO web site at: www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/techmeet/messhp03/
msshp-cp-b.pdf.

Pending matters. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on a number of matters previously raised by the Committee to which the replies provided by the Government in its latest report do not enable the Committee to consider sufficiently resolved. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the following matters.

Article 25 of the Convention. Certificates and register of lifting appliances and items of loose gear. The Committee requests the Government to specify in its next report: (a) whether the certificates which provide prima facie evidence of the safe condition of lifting appliances and items of loose gear are issued by authorized persons; and (b) whether a register of lifting appliances and items of loose gear shall be kept in accordance with the provisions of Article 25(2) and (3), and account being taken of the model recommended by the ILO. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of the documents referred to.

Article 38, paragraph 2. Prohibition against entrusting persons under 18 years of age with the operation of lifting appliances and other cargo-handling appliances. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the indication in the observations made by the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Committees (CCOO), dated 21 October 1993, that there was no provision in the national legislation prohibiting the employment of persons under 18 years of age as operators of cargo-handling appliances in ports, as required by Article 38(2) of the Convention. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the legislative provisions that give effect to this Article. The Committee notes that the Government’s report refers to collective agreements adopted, but does not provide the information requested. Furthermore, the Committee has examined the Resolution of 21 November 2005 requiring inclusion in the register and the publication of the Second Collective Agreement for State Ports and Port Authorities which, under the terms of clause 2, is in force from 1 January 2004 until 31 December 2009. Clause 12(c) of the Collective Agreement provides that the requirements for entry into employment shall include reaching the age set out by the law. Therefore the question raised by the Committee remains pertinent. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate clearly the legal provisions which establish that lifting appliances or other cargo-handling appliances shall not be operated by persons under 18 years of age.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. Please provide a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country, the number of workers covered by the Convention, the number and nature of the contraventions reported and the resulting action taken, and the number of accidents reported in relation to the provisions of the Convention, with an indication of trends relating to the types of accidents, their causes and the measures adopted as a result.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2012.]