baltic tripartite on modern labour labour inspection...

International Labour Organisation, Geneva 1

Government of LatviaInternational Labour Office, ILO

10 years of Cooperation in Labour Inspection Systems Reform

Riga, Latvia

Baltic Tripartite Conference

on Modern Labour

Inspection for the 21st Century


W. Freiherr von Richthofen*

Senior Labour Inspection Specialist and

Coordinator, Development of Inspection Systems,

SafeWork

* Enquiries or comments are invited by e-mail: [email protected], or by fax: 0041-22-

7996878


Introduction

• Labour inspection systems development for almost 40 years

• Expertise in three main areas:• Management of the cooperation

process• Technical (sector-specific)

competence• Training methodology


International Labour Standards

• Convention No. 81 (Labour Inspection in Industry and Commerce, Mining and Transport)

• Convention No.129 (Labour Inspection in Agriculture)

• Protocol to Convention No. 81 (Labour Inspection in Non-Commercial Services)

• Other OS&H standards (C.155, C.161, C.170, C.184, etc.)

• 130 ILO member States have ratified Convention No.81


Policy Framework (5 “Cs”)

– Clear– Considered– Comprehensive– Coherent– Consistent


A Policy Pyramid

Staff training policy

Labour and social protection policyLabour inspection policy

Enforcement policy Organization development incl. personnel policy


An In-depth Audit

• Industrially developed and developing countries

• Fundamental flaw in the previous approach to labour inspection

• Trade unions inspection responsibilities incompatible with role as social partners

• Dichotomy between occupational safety and occupational hygiene/health inspection

• Widespread practice of compensating workers for bad working conditions


Prevention to be a Major Function of the New Inspection Services

• Integrating occupational safety and occupational health enforcement

• Global approach to inspection training policies and programmes

• Training as part of the change process

• Pre-service, induction, further training, and training for higher responsibilities

• Task orientation and motivation orientation


The Baltic Labour Inspection Development Projects

• A technical cooperation project funded by Finland

• A UNDP funded project: ”Development of National Labour Protection Policies”

• A French-funded project: “Strengthening Inspection and Promotion Practices on General Conditions of Work”.

• Other projects: EU PHARE• The Nordic countries


Governments identified the following priorities (I)

• Consolidating the independent State Inspection services

• Integration of enforcement functions• Privatisation of technical safety

supervision• Development of modern inspection

methods• Separate, independent occupational

accident and disease insurance


Priority areas (II)

• Analysis of economic consequences of more effective labour inspection

• Introduction of a tripartite system of cooperation

• Regional cooperation amongst the Baltic Labour inspectorates

• Adopting new institutional patterns, solutions, and training programmes

• Approximation to relevant ILO Conventions and EU Directives


Main Problems inherited from the former command

system

– Fragmentation of labour protection responsibilities

– Separation of occupational safety from occupational hygiene

– Non-operational social partner representation

– Some 7,000 technical norms and standards

– Poor management of labour relations


The Core Problem

• Workers’ protection becoming increasingly problematic

• The privatisation process• “Learning the rules” of market

economies• Drastic degradation of the

working environment• Renewed exploitation of the

labour force


Main achievements in the first year:

• Comprehensive analysis in each Baltic country

• High-level commitment to project objectives

• Design of national labour protection policies

• EDP-based workplace information management systems (WIMS)

• Extensive study tours for key tripartite decision-makers


Collaboration between the Baltic States

– A high-level cooperation Conference in 1995; four areas for priority cooperation:

– A common labour inspection policy– Harmonisation and integration of legislation,

standards, regulations and procedures– Development of common EDP-based

information and management systems, including control of hazardous substances

– Common Baltic regional training policies and activities


Qualitative goals (“difficult areas”)

• Achievement commitment from highest policy decision-makers

• Transferring ownership• Qualitative changes in legislation• Changes in structures and

organisation • Practical interventions, e.g.

inspection procedures


Challenges for subsequent development

• Development of enterprise-level structures

• Reform of occupational health remnants of the former system

• Harmonisation of laws, removal of contradictions

• Development of a labour protection education and training system

• Methods of recognising, evaluating and controlling risks


Focus on development of a training capacity

• Developing an understanding of general concepts of learning

• New trends and concepts in training• Establishing qualification criteria for

labour inspectors• Defining tasks, functions and

operational responsibilities of national training units

• Collaboration with other national Baltic and international educational organisations


New aspects of Labour Protection

• Labour relations issues• Settlement of labour disputes• Paying salaries at the right time and

in full amount• Working hours, overtime• Special labour protection issues:

children, adolescents, women


A second Project

• How to develop labour relations policies

• How to cope with new labour laws

• How to use tripartism• How to organize labour

inspection• How to provide information

to workers and employers


Extensive Evaluation

• Baltic countries themselves the strongest reform-driving force

• Improved quality of outputs• Significantly increased cost-

effectiveness• Revision of all labour protection

acts• New State Labour

Inspectorates


Further Development Needs (I)

• Finalising national policies, harmonisation of legislation

• Improving management of labour inspectorates

• Terminating benefits for “dangerous employment”

• Revising accident investigation, notification and recording systems

• Training of trainers of employers and trade union members


Further Development Needs (II)

• Training of trainers for labour inspection• Developing occupational accident and

disease insurance systems• Patterns for integration of occupational

safety and occupational health• Developing occupational health services• Applying information technology to

labour inspection


Further Development Needs (III)

• Improving effectiveness of enterprise-level activities

• Opportunities for workers’representatives at plant level

• Dealing effectively with SMEs and the black economy

• Ratification of relevant ILO OS&H Conventions

• Development of a comprehensive enterprise-level prevention culture


Conclusions (I)(10 points for consideration)

• Clear indication of a strong political will to change

• In-depth audit of the inspection system and training needs analysis

• Critical look at management deficits

• Training not merely for technical know-how transfer

• A sound training policy


Conclusions (II)

• Standards of competence and performance

• Sustainability• Cultural and state-of-art

technical expertise• Address dysfunctional

issues• Competence in three crucial

areas


Thank you for your attention!

Wolfgang von RichthofenSenior Labour Inspection Specialist &

Coordinator, Development of Inspection System Unit

SafeWork

International Labour OfficeCH-1211 Geneva 22

Switzerland

Tel. (direct) 0041-22/799'70'54Fax. 0041-22/799'68'78

baltic tripartite on modern labour labour inspection...

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