Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Cuba (Ratification: 1954)

With reference to its observation, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

Article 7. Requirements for applicants to the inspection staff and for labour inspectors and supervisors. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in relation to this provision. It indicates that section 23 of the Regulations on the system of national labour inspection supplemented or specified, in relation to the previous regulations, certain requirements to obtain and remain in the posts of inspectors and supervisors. Henceforth, applicants and officials will be required to have high-quality and professional experience and knowledge of the work to be performed (subsection (a)); organizational capacity, as well as the ability to plan and implement initiatives (subsection (c)); and proper labour discipline and optimal use of the working day (subsection (d)). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of increasing or specifying the requirements referred to on the recruitment of new labour inspectors and supervisors and on the situation of inspectors and supervisors who are in office, and on the effectiveness of inspection activities.

Articles 13, 20, and 21(f) and (g), and Part IV of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81). Occupational safety and health prevention in high-risk activities, and annual report on the activities of the inspection services. Noting with interest the efforts made to gather the information contained in the annual inspection report, the Committee observes that of the total of 4,919 persons injured in 2010 in employment accidents, 688 worked in the manufacturing industry (with the exception of the sugar industry), 426 in construction and 256 in the sugar industry. The number of deaths caused by employment accidents over the same period was 13 in the manufacturing industry (with the exception of the sugar industry), 14 in construction and five in the sugar industry. The Committee observes that it is not clear in which sectors the 2,660 persons worked who suffered employment accidents during the course of 2010 and who were not included in the sectors referred to above, or in the other sectors mentioned in the annual labour inspection report (namely, the public health and social assistance sector, agriculture, stock-raising, hunting and forestry, and mining and quarries). The Committee requests the Government to provide clarification on this subject. It would also be grateful if the Government would indicate whether measures have been adopted or are envisaged to prevent the occurrence of employment accidents in the worst affected sectors and, if so, if it would indicate the role assigned to labour inspectors and supervisors in this context. Finally, the Committee invites the Government to ensure the inclusion in future annual reports of detailed information on the causes of employment accidents and the factors underlying the classification of cases of occupational diseases.