ILC 88 - Report VI (1): Safety and health in agriculture

This law and practice report has been prepared by the Office, following the decision of the Governing Body at its 271st Session⁽¹⁾ (March 1998) to place an item on safety and health in agriculture on the agenda of the International Labour Conference at its 88th Session in 2000.

The report examines existing legislation and practice on safety and health in agriculture in ILO member States. The term "legislation" is used in the broad sense to include statutes, regulations, codes of practice and other similar instruments of a legislative character. Both general labour codes and specific laws that address safety and health are examined. An attempt is made to analyse the application of legislation wherever possible, based on available information. The content of the report is based on information provided by member States through a survey, the ILO's legislative database (ILOLEX), the ILO's safety and health database (CISDOC) and other sources available at the International Labour Office in Geneva.

In view of the limited time-frame for the preparation of this report and the fact that a number of the replies to the survey from member States were late, the report was completed before some replies had been received. The report does not set out to review the relevant legislation in each member State of the ILO but rather to provide examples of national laws worldwide, in order to give the reader a representative sample of the pertinent issues in current law and practice in safety and health in agriculture. Any further information from member States that would help the Office to give a more comprehensive overview of national legislation would be most welcome.

A questionnaire based on the above-mentioned assessment is enclosed with the report. The purpose is to request member States to provide the Office with their views concerning the scope and content of the proposed instrument, after consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers.

Due to the broad scope of the agricultural sector, it would be advisable to consult other relevant ministries and institutions dealing with agriculture, such as Ministries of Agriculture, Health and Environment, for the preparation of the replies.

Half of the world labour force is employed in agriculture and an estimated 1.3 billion workers are engaged in agricultural production worldwide. The share of the agricultural labour force in the total economically active population is under 10 per cent in developed countries and accounts for 59 per cent of workers in the less developed regions.⁽¹⁾

Agriculture is one of the most hazardous sectors in both the developing and industrialized countries. It is ranked as one of the three most hazardous industries together with mining and construction. According to ILO estimates for 1997, out of a total of 330,000 fatal workplace accidents worldwide, there were some 170,000 casualties among agricultural workers.⁽²⁾ The increasing use of machinery and of pesticides and other agrochemicals has aggravated the risks. In several countries, the fatal accident rate in agriculture is double the average for all other industries. Machinery such as tractors and harvesters cause the highest frequency and fatality rates of injury. Exposure to pesticides and other agrochemicals constitute major occupational hazards which may result in poisoning and death and, in certain cases, work-related cancer and reproductive impairments.

Due to inadequate and heterogeneous recording and notification systems, official data on the incidence of occupational accidents and diseases are imprecise and notoriously underestimated in all sectors of the economy. In the case of the agricultural sector under-reporting is even more evident. Under-reporting is partially explained by the difficulties involved in the diagnosis of occupational and work-related diseases and in establishing the employment status of agricultural workers (self-employed, piece-rate, full-time or part-time work, seasonal, temporary and migrant workers, etc.).

Compared to workers in other sectors, agricultural workers are under-protected. They suffer markedly higher rates of accidents and fatal injuries than other workers, with very few resources available for compensation. In many countries, agricultural workers are excluded from any employment injury benefit or insurance scheme. Self-employed farmers are rarely covered by any recording and notification system and only have access to social security benefits if they contribute individually to voluntary insurance schemes. The most vulnerable groups are workers in family subsistence agriculture, daily labourers in plantations, seasonal and migrant workers, women workers and child labourers. Temporary workers are especially vulnerable. They are more exposed to occupational hazards than other agricultural workers, and are lower paid. In addition, migrant workers may encounter language and cultural difficulties at work and in their daily lives.

One of the difficulties in dealing with agriculture is that it is a very complex and heterogeneous sector. It involves a number of specific situations which vary from country to country and between developed and developing countries — from highly mechanized agriculture in plantations to traditional methods in small-scale subsistence agriculture. "Agriculture" covers not only farming but also many other associated activities such as crop processing and packaging, irrigation, pest management, grain storage, animal husbandry, construction and domestic tasks (carrying water or fuel-wood, etc.). Agricultural work — and this is one of its distinguishing characteristics — is carried out in a rural environment where there is no clear-cut distinction between working and living conditions. As agricultural work is carried out in the countryside, it is subject to the health hazards of a rural environment as well as those inherent in the specific work processes involved. Most agricultural work is carried out in the open air and consequently agricultural workers are dependent on weather changes to perform their tasks. This factor not only undermines the efficiency of the operations, but also influences working conditions, making them difficult and dangerous (e.g. a rainstorm while harvesting, gusts of wind when pesticides are being applied, etc.).

In developing countries, a large number of rural people live below the poverty line.⁽³⁾ Socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors also influence the working and living conditions of farmers and agricultural workers. The environment in which rural people work and live, their standard of living and their nutrition are as important to their health as the services available to them. Most agricultural workers in developing countries have poor housing conditions and an inadequate diet, and are exposed to both general and occupational diseases. They may live in extremely primitive conditions, usually dispersed in remote areas where roads are non-existent or inadequate and transportation is difficult. Agricultural workers are dependent on the general standards of public health services in rural areas where the provision of health care, adequate water supply and sanitation systems are generally insufficient. The low standards of hygiene in living quarters affect not only smallholdings, but also the large enterprises which provide housing for temporary workers and for migrant workers.⁽⁴⁾ Rural communities often lack education and information on the health hazards they may face. Traditional health approaches have few effective mechanisms to reach rural communities. There are also environmental implications arising from the degradation of natural resources and local and global environmental changes. Environmental pollution causes occupational and general health risks to workers, their families and the communities, as it also has an adverse effect on the ecosystem. Hence the problems faced by agricultural workers are interwoven and complex.

Generally speaking, the introduction of machinery and chemicals in agriculture has made a significant contribution to the increase of food production worldwide — although even that has not been enough to come to grips with the famine affecting many countries. At the beginning of the 1990s, the world agricultural production per capita stagnated, with an ensuing increase in the world's food deficit; the number of countries suffering from a food deficit rose from 15 in 1994 to 29 in 1997,⁽⁵⁾ with more than half of them in Africa. The rural populations who make up the majority of the world's poor, were the main victims of this deteriorating situation.⁽⁶⁾ , ⁽⁷⁾ The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)⁽⁸⁾ and the United Nations Commission⁽⁹⁾ for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have shown that the number of people living in poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean rose by 60 million between 1980 and 1990. And even if the majority of poor people live in cities, the incidence and severity of poverty are greater in rural areas.

Moreover, technological change in agriculture has not been accompanied by investment in the protection and improvement of workers' safety and health. Though technological change has brought about a reduction in the physical drudgery of agricultural work, it has also introduced new risks hitherto unknown to the sector, such as: an increasing number of oocupational accidents and serious injuries; a rise in the incidence of deaths at work due to agricultural machinery and the destabilization of the ecosystems of large areas of the world on account of a non-sustainable approach to agricultural development.

Inequalities in the economic development of different countries, or of regions within the same country, have resulted in the coexistence of a number of forms of production in agriculture. In broad terms, they may be grouped in "two main agricultural sectors". The first of these sectors is characterized by low-skilled subsistence farming, in which a large proportion of the rural population works; the other often uses highly automated production processes and, consequently, achieves high productivity with relatively few workers. There are significant skill differences existing between the two sectors; the first involves those engaged in subsistence farming,⁽¹⁰⁾ whilst the second includes skilled market-oriented farmers and agricultural workers.

Technological development has also led to a decline in the share of the agricultural labour force in the total economically active population worldwide. In industrialized countries intensive mechanization has hastened the decline in the number of permanent workers in agriculture (less than 10 per cent). In developing countries the proportion of agricultural workers is still high (more than 50 per cent of the economically active population). Even though the share of agriculture in the labour force is gradually declining, the number of agricultural workers in absolute terms continues to rise, as does the area under agricultural production.⁽¹¹⁾

Table 1.1. Distribution of the economically active population (EAP) in agriculture in the world in 1996


Region	Total population	Rural population		Agricultural EAP

	1,000	1,000	% of total pop.	1,000	% of total pop.

Near East and North Africa	365	158	43.3	48	13.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	547	386	67.3	167	30.5
Asia and Pacific	3 010	2 093	69.5	977	32.5
Latin America	477	123	25.7	43	9.0
Transition countries	415	141	34.0	37	8.9
Developed countries	1 289	349	27.1	56	4.3
Data source: FAO: The state of food and agriculture. The agroprocessing industry and economic development (Rome, 1997).


Degree of labour use in agriculture	Country	Total population (millions)	Agricultural population as percentage of total
Degree of labour use in agriculture		Total population (millions)	Agricultural population as percentage of total

	Kenya	28	79
High	Mexico	93	79
	Zimbabwe	11	73
	China	1 232	71
	Algeria	29	24
Medium	Brazil	161	18
	South Africa	42	12
	Bulgaria	8	11
	Australia	18	4
Low	United States	269	3
	France	58	3
	Canada	30	2
Data source: FAO: As for table 1.1

One of the specific characteristics of the agricultural sector is the lack of clear-cut distinctions between different categories of workers and the size and types of landholdings. Indeed, there is a wide range of landownership patterns and methods of cultivation. Consequently, there are numerous types of labour relations and different forms of labour force participation — and the situation varies between the industrialized and developing countries. The different categories of workers also vary within each country and, in certain cases, a single farmer may be grouped in more than one category. For example, in developing countries, many smallholders supplement their subsistence farming income with wages earned by working on large commercial farms during harvesting periods.

In industrialized countries, most agricultural workers are small-scale landowners who operate farms with varying technical and financial means and produce for the domestic and/or the export market. In Europe small and medium-sized landholdings are usually family farms, with a high level of productivity. They tend to employ seasonal workers at times of high demand for labour, particularly when they specialize in vegetable, fruit and grape production, where mechanization is not highly developed. Table 1.3 shows the distribution and size of holdings in France, which is one of the European countries with a high level of agricultural production.

Table 1.3. Number and surface area of agricultural production units in France in 1993


Area	Number of units	% of total units

< 5 ha	224 000	28
5 to 20 ha	184 000	23
20 to 50 ha	208 000	26
50 to 100 ha	128 000	16
> to 100 ha	56 000	7
Source: Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA), 1994 statistics.

As in Europe, most agricultural workers in Asia and Africa are small-scale farmers; however, their working and living conditions differ substantially from those in the industrialized world. Certain small landowners in developing countries combine small-scale agriculture and cattle-raising; the farming sector in southern Africa is composed of smallholders, generally under communal tenure, who work with family members and non-wage labour.⁽¹⁵⁾ In Malaysia, there are up to 1 million smallholders — of which half are involved in holdings of less than 40.5 hectares.⁽¹⁶⁾


Country	Period	Maximum size of smallholdings	Number (as % of total)	Area (as % of total)

Bangladesh	1983-84	< 1 ha	70.3	29.0
Brazil	1985	< 10 ha	52.9	2.7
India	1985-86	< 1 ha	58.0	13.2
Morocco	1973-74	< 5 ha	79.8	24.6
Pakistan	1990	< 1 ha	27.0	4.0
Philippines	1990	< 2 ha	50.9	—
Turkey	1987	< 10 ha	18.2	—
Zimbabwe	1983	—	70.3	29.0
Source: ILO: Wage workers in agriculture: Conditions of employment and work , Sectoral Activities Programme (Geneva, 1996).

In Latin America the distribution is somewhat different; wage-earners constitute a large proportion of the economically active population. For example, in Central America they represent 49 per cent of the agricultural labour force; of these 27 per cent are permanent employees, 10 per cent are part owners and part temporary workers, and 12 per cent are temporary landless workers. In Brazil there are 12 million landless peasants out of a rural population of 23 million.⁽¹⁷⁾

There are a number of features which characterize small-scale holdings in developing countries. First, the whole family — from the very young to the elderly — is involved in agricultural activities; second, the workers are often very poor, illiterate or poorly educated; third, they are poorly fed and suffer from chronic ill health due to common communicable diseases; and, finally, they lack access to social and health care services and appropriate sanitary facilities.

The worldwide trend towards work flexibility and the pressure to reduce labour and production costs, is leading to an increase in daily and seasonal contracts,⁽¹⁸⁾ often associated with the employment of migrant labourers who move between non-agricultural rural employment and agriculture itself. This decline in the share of permanent labour has been documented in many countries and regions. These include: Bangladesh, France, Spain, and Central and southern Africa. Most agricultural wage labour is carried out by day-labourers, seasonal labourers and temporary workers who perform the lowest-skilled tasks in poor working conditions. Working conditions and labour relations differ very much for permanent and non-permanent workers. Permanent workers not only receive some job security but also relatively higher wages and better housing, health and work benefits.

Table 1.5. Share of wage-earning and temporary workers in the agricultural labour force in selected countries (late 1980s — early 1990s)


Country	Wage-earners as per cent of total rural labour force	Temporary workers as per cent of agricultural wage-earners

India	37.1	82.0
Brazil	37.9	77.4
Chile	60.0	60.0
Guatemala	58.9	34.8
Honduras	77.7	21.0
Mexico	75.5	33.9
Panama	54.8	25.7
Spain	36.6	62.7
Source: ILO: Wage workers in agriculture: conditions of employment and work , Sectoral Activities Programme (Geneva, 1996).

Labour migration is one of the major consequences of growing work flexibility, casual employment, low pay, bad working conditions and poverty. It is both international and national. Wherever they come from, migrants are always heavily disadvantaged in terms of pay, social protection, housing and medical protection. This labour mobility is very significant throughout the world.⁽¹⁹⁾

The most serious problem, however, remains that of contract labour which again mainly affects migrant workers. Employers, who need to be able to count upon a supply of labour in periods of peak demand, increasingly call upon the services of labour contractors specialized in the recruitment, transport and management of agricultural workers. This process involving "middlemen" undermines the whole employment relationship, leaving "a grey area" around the employer's responsibilities and leading to a disregard for labour legislation. Conditions of employment are generally insecure and the labour contractors frequently abuse their authority over the workers by asking for commissions, over-charging for transport, housing and food, holding back wages and imposing debt slavery, etc.⁽²⁰⁾

The migration of young men to the city means that agricultural work is increasingly left to women, the elderly and children. Women now account for 20 to 30 per cent of total agricultural wage employment, and child labour is widespread; in some countries children account for as much as 30 per cent of the agricultural workforce.

Women account for a considerable proportion of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, constituting 40 per cent of the sector's labour force in Latin America and the Caribbean.⁽²¹⁾ In southern African countries, women are mainly occupied in non-permanent jobs in both large- and small-scale holdings — but this does not mean that they reduce their domestic activities. Women and children constitute over 40 per cent of those working in the agricultural sector in Zimbabwe — a country in which agriculture employs over half of the national labour force. Much of this labour often involves a worker's whole family (including children and the elderly)⁽²²⁾ and one consequence of this is that women often take their children with them into fields, thus exposing both the children and themselves to occupational hazards.⁽²³⁾ Most women in agriculture have practically no training or access to information on the risks involved in their work. Exposure to poor working conditions has serious repercussions on children's growth, development and health, as well as on pregnancy, and can worsen pathologies brought on by old age.⁽²⁴⁾

A number of studies have revealed the relationship between occupational hazards and iron deficiency and anaemia in pregnant women as well as complications in gestation, foetal disorders, physical and development disorders in new-borns and infants. The risk of miscarriages, premature deliveries and spontaneous abortions has been directly related to work in unfavourable conditions, such as microclimates in greenhouses and exposure to pesticides.⁽²⁵⁾

According to the latest ILO estimates, at least 250 million children of between five and 14 years of age work in developing countries. In the case of almost half of these children (120 million), this work is carried out on a full-time basis. According to a survey recently carried out by the ILO in 26 countries, the participation rates of children in economic activities was much higher in rural areas than in urban centres. Seventy per cent of the surveyed children were engaged in agricultural activities, with higher ratios for girls than for boys (75 and 69 per cent, respectively). Rural children, in particular girls, tend to start working at an early age. In Latin America and the Caribbean, out of 15 million children involved in the labour market, 56 per cent work in the agricultural sector from the age of 5 to 7 years onwards. Most children work seven days a week and are paid less than the prevailing rates in their localities. They work long hours — and a very high proportion of these children are injured at work. The most common injuries include: cuts and wounds, eye infections, skin problems, fever, and headaches caused by excessive heat or by exposure to pesticides while working in agricultural fields.⁽²⁶⁾

1. ILO: Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1996 (Geneva, 1996); W. M. Coombs: "Agricultural health — Quo Vadis" in OccHSA, July/Aug. 1995, Vol. 1, No. 4; FAO: The state of food and agriculture, 1996 (Rome, 1996).

2. ILO: Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1996, op. cit.; National Safety Council: International Accident Facts (Illinois, United States, 1995); J. L. Murray and A. D. Lopez (eds.): The global burden of disease (WHO Global burden of disease and injury series. World Bank, Harvard School of Public Health, Washington, DC, 1997); FAO: The state of food and agriculture, op. cit.

4. ILO: Structure and functions of rural workers' organizations, A workers' education manual, Second edition (Geneva, 1990); IMF: World economic outlook. Globalization. Opportunities and challenges (Washington, DC, May 1997); D. Coplan: "Damned if we know: Public policy and the future of the migrant labour system", in J. Crush, W. James and F. Vletter et al. (eds.): Labour migrancy in Southern Africa: Prospects for post-apartheid transformation (University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1995), Southern African Labour Monographs 3/95, Labour Law Unit; S. Gomez and E. Klein: Los pobres del campo. El trabajador eventual, FLACSO/PREALC (ILO, Santiago, Chile, 1993).

5. ILO: Wage workers in agriculture: Conditions of employment and work, Sectoral Activities Programme (Geneva, 1996).

6. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): Panorama social de América Latina (United Nations, Santiago, Chile, 1993).

10. ILO: International standard classification of occupations, ISCO-88 (Geneva, 1990).

11. The rate of decline is slowing down: projections show 0.6 per cent per year in 1900-2000, and 0.45 in 2000-10. See ILO: Wage workers in agriculture, op. cit.

12. Accounting for 85 per cent of agricultural economically active population in Uganda. See D. K. Sekimpi: "Occupational health services for agricultural workers", in J. Jeyaratnam (ed.): Occupational health in developing countries (Oxford University Press, United Kingdom, 1992).

13. In Latin America, latifundium corresponds to a large-landed propriety of which only a small part is productive.

14. For example, in 1996, 40,000 squatters were living in 244 temporary dwellings in uncultivated land in Brazil. See S. Salgado, Mouvement des Paysans Sans Terre (MST) and Frères des Hommes: "Terra." L'enjeu politique des Brésiliens (Paris, 1997).

15. R. Loewenson: Occupational health and safety in agriculture in southern Africa, report prepared for the ILO (unpublished, Harare, Zimbabwe, 1998).

16. I. H. Singh: Occupational health and safety in the plantation sector, proceedings of the National Seminar on Effective Labour Inspections in the Plantation Sector, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1986.

17. S. Salgado, op. cit.; S. Gomez and E. Klein, op. cit.; F. Bourquelot: "De quelques tendances sur l'emploi des salariés dans la production agricole", in Economie rurale (Paris, 1987), No. 178-179; L. Gavira Alvarez: Segmentación del mercado de trabajo rural y desarrollo: el caso de Andalucia (Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Madrid, 1993); ILO: Wage-workers in agriculture, op. cit.; D. Copland, op. cit.

19. P. Egger: Travail et agriculture dans le tiers monde. Pour une politique active de l'emploi rural (ILO, Geneva, 1993).

21. ILO: ILO News. Latin America and the Caribbean. 1996 Labour overview (Geneva, 1996).

23. R. Loewenson: Epidemiology in occupational health in developing countries (mimeo, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Harare, Zimbabwe, 1992).

24. C. Tibone: "Health hazards associated with agricultural activities in Botswana and how they affect women", in East African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety. Agriculture (Helsinki, 1989), No. 3, pp. 22-23.

26. V. Forastieri: Children at work. Health and safety risks (ILO, Geneva, 1997).

It is unusual to find a definition of "agriculture" in national labour codes and safety and health legislation.⁽¹⁾ This is probably because few national safety and health laws explicitly exclude agricultural undertakings from their scope. Even in cases in which national laws define "agriculture" or "agricultural work", the definitions are often general and imprecise. Some relevant definitions have been identified and a representative sample is reproduced below.

In New Zealand, section 2 of the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations (1995) includes the following definition of "agricultural work":

In the Labour Code of the United Arab Emirates, the following definition of "agricultural work" is included:

The Malaysian child labour legislation defines an "agricultural undertaking" as:

In Chile, the Labour Code (1994) excludes forestry workers other than those employed at temporary sawmills from its definition of "agricultural work".

In Section 1140.4 (a) of the Californian Agricultural Labor Relations Act (1975), "agriculture" includes:

A relevant definition is also included in the United States Federal Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (1983). Section 3 of the Act defines an "agricultural employer" as:

When reviewing the definitions of "agriculture" in national legislations it became apparent that there was not one clear and consistent approach. This may be attributed to the fact that the various national instruments examined largely serve different policy purposes. The definitions employed must be considered within the context of their use — an aspect which is normally taken into account in the drafting of ILO instruments. On the basis of the review of the above definition in national legislations, it is possible to draw some tentative conclusions. "Agriculture" includes the cultivation and harvesting of crops, generally includes the breeding of animals and shepherding, horticultural activities, and generally excludes forestry work unless it is incidental to farming, such as isolated tree-felling.

In 1962, at its Fourth Session, the joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health discussed occupational health problems in agriculture and developed two relevant definitions to assist the Committee in its work; these are still valid in the context of ILO's activities. The Committee agreed that agriculture should mean:

A definition of an agricultural undertaking may be found in the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 133). Article 1 (1) of the Convention states that the term "agricultural undertaking" means:

Articles 1 (2) and (3) authorize the competent authority to define the line which separates agriculture from industry and commerce.

The ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, in its 1985 General Survey, deliberated on the meaning of the expression "agricultural undertaking" in Convention No. 129. The Committee considered that the strict meaning of the expression included only "the direct exploitation of vegetable and animal resources",⁽⁷⁾ but that certain national laws defined the term so as to include primary processing of products by the operator.⁽⁸⁾

The following instruments refer to "agriculture" without defining the term: the Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11); the Night Work of Children and Young Persons (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1921 (No. 14), and the Rural Workers' Organisations Convention, 1975 (No. 141) and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 149).

The examination of national safety and health laws has revealed a wide diversity of national approaches to legislation addressing safety and health in the agricultural sector. In most cases general labour laws or labour codes may give no specific reference or may not be applicable in full to the agricultural sector. Agriculture tends to be omitted from the occupational safety and health legislation in many countries; however, in certain cases, acts contain limited reference to the sector. In other countries, general labour laws apply to agriculture along with other industries (for example, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico and Spain).

In certain countries, there are no safety and health laws applicable to the agricultural sector at all.⁽⁹⁾ The general labour laws of a number of countries exclude agricultural workers completely or partially, such as: Cambodia, Ghana, Jordan, Morocco, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Turkey, Yemen and Zaire .⁽¹⁰⁾

In many of the countries included in the report, there are a number of specific regulations or decrees related to agriculture which are subordinated to occupational safety and health acts or directly to labour codes. Most of these regulations concern: safety of machinery and equipment (mainly tractors and harvesters); substances or agents used in agriculture (in particular pesticides). In a number of other countries, laws specifically regulate labour relations in agriculture (for example, Argentina, Austria, Cameroon, Greece, Morocco and the United States (California)).⁽¹¹⁾ Other regulations relevant to agriculture refer to social security measures and working conditions (wages, hours of work, etc.); prohibitions on the employment of children and young workers in hazardous activities; prohibitions on the operation of certain type of machinery equipment for those under 18 years of age, etc.

Nevertheless, according to available information, comprehensive legislation on occupational safety and health in the agricultural sector is limited. Only a few countries have a full set of special provisions on safety and health in this sector, such as: Argentina, Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Some of the laws are more comprehensive than others. In 1997, for example, Argentina adopted safety and health regulations for the agricultural sector. France has an extensive list of relevant regulations subordinated to its Labour Code, including a specific list of occupational diseases in agriculture as well as regulations on occupational medical services for agricultural undertakings.

These laws will be examined in detail in the subsequent sections and may be found under the following three headings:

Legislation addressing specific industrial hazards and "Factories Acts" were enacted in many industrialized countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These laws invariably exclude agriculture from their scope. This type of safety and health legislation is commonly found in developing countries, particularly those which were colonized by Great Britain.⁽¹²⁾ It often dates back to colonial times or soon after independence was granted. In general, the legislation was developed and enacted to provide protection to workers in industrial enterprises at a time when governments were striving to promote industrialization ⁽¹³⁾ and was based on relevant enactments in force in the colonizing State. There are certain developing countries in which safety and health laws are still based on Factories Acts and do not apply to agriculture as a sector. For example the Factories Act 1973 of Botswana is only applicable to "factories"— a term that is defined so as to exclude agricultural undertakings. The legislation in India, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe, amongst others, is similarly limited in its application.⁽¹⁴⁾ However, some countries such as Nepal and Pakistan have legislated not only in relation to factories but also concerning workers employed in plantations.⁽¹⁵⁾

A significant aspect of the agricultural sector is the wide variety of labourers who work in it. These workers range from full-time employees working under contracts of employment through to casual, temporary and seasonal workers who are only engaged at particular times such as the harvesting season. Other people who work in agriculture include sharecroppers and tenants who generally rent land for farming, are self-employed, and are remunerated through a share of the produce. In addition, many workers are family members, including children.⁽¹⁶⁾

In addition to countries where the safety and health legislation does not apply to the agricultural sector as a whole, there are other countries where it applies only to certain categories of agricultural workers. Even though a small number of countries specifically exclude agricultural work from the coverage of their labour codes, there are many others where few if any provisions in their legislation are applicable to workers not employed under full-time contracts.

Certain countries extend the scope of the protection offered by their labour laws beyond the full-time wage employment relationship. For example, the Chilean Labour Code (1994)⁽¹⁷⁾ makes specific provision for seasonal, subcontracted and temporary workers, as well as for labour relations among tenants and sharecroppers. Mexican and Australian law contains similar provisions.

In addition to requiring employers to safeguard the safety and health of their workers, the laws of many countries require employers to safeguard the safety and health of other people who might be affected by the work of the enterprise (Fiji, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa).⁽¹⁸⁾ This very broad formulation extends the legislative protection to any person who may be working (in whatever capacity) for the employer including temporary, seasonal and contract labourers as well as family members. Third parties, including members of the public and neighbouring landowners, are also protected by such provisions which are of great importance in the agricultural sector. Indeed, they ensure that a wider range of people, including temporary workers and family members, are brought within the scope of statutory protection than is usually the case under general labour laws.

In its 1997 General Survey on Labour Administration, the ILO's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations noted the difficulties faced by labour administrations in developing countries in discharging "their important duties with regard to categories of workers such as self-employed rural workers and temporary or seasonal workers in small rural enterprises . . .". As noted earlier in this report, such workers make up a significant proportion of the agricultural workforce. The Committee noted that "sometimes it is local conditions and a lack of resources that prevent labour administration activities from being extended to such workers".⁽¹⁹⁾ Although the Committee was referring to labour administration activities as a whole, similar observations may be made in relation to safety and health inspection, particularly in developing countries.

The working conditions and safety and health needs of rural workers in cooperatives, as well as of tenants, sharecroppers, migrant and temporary workers are considered in the following ILO Conventions and Recommendations: the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97), and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 86); the Protection of Migrant Workers (Underdeveloped Countries) Recommendation, 1955 (No. 100); the Co-operatives (Developing Countries) Recommendation, 1966 (No. 127); the Tenants and Share-croppers Recommendation, 1968 (No. 132);⁽²⁰⁾ the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 150); and the Rural Workers' Organisations Convention, 1975 (No. 141) and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 149).

The legal position of many of these workers under national labour codes and laws is uncertain. For example, in Ethiopia it is estimated that 80 per cent of national economic activity falls outside the protection of the Labour Code as it consists of small-scale and subsistence farming.⁽²¹⁾ Thus, in the agricultural sector, seasonal and casual labourers are often excluded and self-employed farmers are rarely covered.

In the United States, the Occupational Health and Safety Act (1970) does not provide coverage to family members employed on a farm. Further, employers engaged in "agricultural operations" are exempt from all "General Industry Standards" except those applying to (1) temporary labour camps, (2) anhydrous ammonia, (3) pulpwood logging and (4) slow-moving vehicles.⁽²²⁾ In Australia (Queensland), agricultural employers are exempted from complying with significant sections of the principal safety and health requirements contained in section 146 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation (1997).

The safety and health legislation in Norway empowers the Crown to exempt from the scope of the Act "activities in agriculture that do not employ hired labour other than as some form of relief assistance".⁽²³⁾ In other countries, safety and health laws provide for the Minister or another authority to grant administrative exemptions from statutory requirements to specified employers.

In certain countries such as the Republic of Korea and Nepal, the Labour Code applies to workplaces in which there is a minimum number of workers employed.⁽²⁴⁾ Such provisions restrict the application of laws, in particular, in the agricultural sector, as a sizeable proportion of agricultural undertakings would fall below their statutory thresholds.

In other countries, agricultural workers are excluded from specific legislative protections. In Canada (Ontario) "seasonal employees in the agricultural industry" are excluded from the protection afforded by the Employment Equity Act (1993).⁽²⁵⁾

Children make up a significant and growing proportion of the agricultural workforce in both developing and industrialized countries.⁽²⁶⁾ In addition to general provisions requiring employers to provide a safe working environment, it is common for labour codes to regulate child labour and the work of pregnant or nursing women to protect their safety and health.

In many countries, there is a prohibition to engage children below 14 years of age. Children in age-groups ranging from 14-16 to 18 years are prohibited from performing certain hazardous work including night work, and work at heights. Of particular relevance to agriculture are provisions that prohibit young people from performing work involving exposure to chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides, and work involving the lifting of heavy loads (for example, Costa Rica, Lithuania, Nicaragua, Sweden).⁽²⁷⁾ In the laws of many countries, there are also prohibitions on young people performing specified activities. A case in point is Paraguay, where children under the age of 18 years are prohibited from driving tractors, harvesters or other hazardous agricultural machinery.

In practice, the restrictions on child labour that are found in the laws of many countries are often limited or non-applicable to the agricultural sector. In some cases, this is due to the exclusion of agriculture from labour codes under which child labour is regulated. For example, the law in the Dominican Republic excludes agricultural undertakings from those provisions of the Labour Code that regulate child labour and working hours.⁽²⁸⁾ A recent study of child labour legislation in 157 ILO member States found that "in just over 40 countries agricultural work is permitted at any age".⁽²⁹⁾ Many countries permit "light agricultural work" or "light harvesting work" at ages as young as 12 years with the general stipulation that the work must not interfere with the child's education.⁽³⁰⁾ Nevertheless, family enterprises and subsistence agriculture are outside the scope of legislation and a large proportion of children may be found — in many cases from five years of age upwards — helping their parents or playing in the field while work is undertaken.⁽³¹⁾

All member States that have ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), are required to specify a minimum age for entry to employment. The 59 member States which have ratified the Convention specify minimum ages ranging from 14 to 16 years.⁽³²⁾ Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention enable member States to exclude from its application "limited categories of employment or work" other than work which "by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of young persons". Convention No. 138 is applicable to "plantations and other agricultural undertakings mainly producing for commercial purposes" but it specifically excludes "family and small-scale holdings producing for local consumption and not regularly employing hired workers".⁽³³⁾

It is very common for labour codes and safety and health laws to make special provision for women workers, particularly when they are pregnant or nursing. In most legislation, pregnant and nursing women are protected against certain hazardous work, such as that involving the lifting of heavy loads or exposure to hazardous chemicals and ionizing radiations; China, Lithuania and Nicaragua are three examples of member States with legislative provisions of this nature.⁽³⁴⁾ Employers may be required to transfer women from work that is hazardous in this respect to other work not involving such safety and health risks. However, these provisions are of general application and do not specify agricultural work. Often the coverage is provided by separate legislation. In some countries only permanent agricultural workers are covered. Agricultural women workers are specifically covered in the following countries: Angola, Bahrain, Belize, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Greece, Hungary and Madagascar. In India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka agricultural workers employed in plantations are covered. However, in many countries agricultural workers are not covered or specifically excluded from maternity protection regulations. These include Bolivia, Dominica, El Salvador, Lesotho, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Yemen.⁽³⁵⁾

The vast majority of countries provide paid maternity leave by law and many offer health benefits and employment safeguards; however, the gap between law and practice remains wide. Those most likely to be disadvantaged include, among others, agricultural workers who are often excluded from such benefits. Nevertheless, there is a growing awareness of the impact of the working environment on reproductive health and of the negative outcomes to pregnancy associated with maternal exposure to hazardous substances, such as pesticides.

There is a trend away from industry-specific safety and health laws. In many industrialized and some developing countries, factories legislation has been — or is currently in the process of being — replaced by comprehensive safety and health laws that apply to all or most branches of economic activity, including agriculture. For example, in 1997, Hong Kong, China, introduced a new Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance which replaced the previous Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance thus extending the number of workers protected by safety and health legislation from 800,000 to 2.6 million.⁽³⁶⁾

The legislation in certain countries was only extended to agriculture some time after being originally introduced.⁽³⁷⁾ This broad approach to the scope afforded safety and health legislation is not confined to industrialized countries. Mauritius, Lesotho and Namibia have all passed safety and health laws that generally apply to any workplace where work is performed pursuant to a contract of employment.⁽³⁸⁾ Other examples of countries that take this approach include Australia, Bulgaria, Fiji, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico and New Zealand.⁽³⁹⁾ Some countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago⁽⁴⁰⁾ are in the process of enacting similar legislation.

A report that has been particularly influential in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries is the "Report of the Committee on Health and Safety at Work"; this Committee was chaired by Lord Robens and the report is better known as "the Robens Report".⁽⁴¹⁾ One of the most significant recommendations of the Robens Report was that industry-specific safety and health legislation should be progressively repealed and replaced by a framework statute covering all industries. Safety and health issues arising from specific hazards or industries should be addressed in regulations and codes of practice promulgated under this framework enactment.

The ILO's Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), as well as certain influential government reports and regional directives, have had an impact on this worldwide trend. In Europe, the so-called "Safety Framework Directive"⁽⁴²⁾ has had an influence on all Members of the European Union who are obliged to ensure that their safety and health laws conform to its requirements.⁽⁴³⁾ This Directive applies to all sectors of economic activity, including agriculture. There are also several European safety and health directives that specifically address safety and health in agriculture. These deal mainly with pesticides, machinery safety and the ergonomic design of agricultural and forestry machinery.⁽⁴⁴⁾

As a result of these developments, many countries now have a principal enactment that regulates occupational safety and health in a general way across a wide range of economic sectors including agriculture. A case in point is the Republic of South Africa, which adopted legislation in 1993 that applies to all areas of economic activity with the exception of mines and certain ships.⁽⁴⁵⁾ Reference to this legislation may illustrate the general features of such laws. Indeed, the principal obligations under the South African Occupational Health and Safety Act 1993 arise whenever there is a person who "employs or provides work for any person and remunerates that person or expressly or tacitly undertakes to remunerate him" (section 1 (1)). The Act — as is commonly the case with legislation of this nature — imposes legally binding duties that are very broad and general in their scope. For example, section 8 (1) requires an employer (including an employer of agricultural workers) to "provide and maintain, as far as reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of his workers". Similar broad duties are contained in the general safety and health laws of a number of other countries.

The enactment of such framework legislation has had important consequences for the coverage of the agricultural sector. For example, prior to 1992, New Zealand had in force legislation that specifically provided for the protection of the safety and health of agricultural workers.⁽⁴⁶⁾ However, this legislation was repealed by the 1992 general safety and health legislation that applies to all forms of employment in New Zealand other than residential work.⁽⁴⁷⁾ Specific protection of agricultural workers in New Zealand is now contained in Regulations made under this general framework Act.⁽⁴⁸⁾ This process appears to have resulted in more extensive protection for the agricultural sector in this particular case. For example, while the previous Act only covered accommodation, first aid and general safety, the new regulations and the Act under which they are promulgated address these issues within the context of a wider risk-management coverage of safety and health in all industries, including agriculture. Other countries that have introduced framework safety and health laws in recent years have also repealed laws that were specific to agricultural workers (such as Australia and the United Kingdom).⁽⁴⁹⁾

In November 1976, the Council of the European Communities adopted a resolution⁽⁵⁰⁾ concerning measures to simplify agricultural legislation among their members in order to implement a common agricultural policy. The Commission was requested to improve coordination between all bodies concerned for the preparation and implementation of the agricultural legislation. This initiative concerned mainly market relations and essential economic requirements for the implementation of common agricultural policy mechanisms.

Discussions on the programme of the European Commission concerning occupational safety and health, which took place from 1987 to 1992, greatly contributed to the adoption of a number of Directives specifically addressing safety and health at work. Furthermore, the European Commission included agriculture as a high-risk sector in their action programme on safety, hygiene and health in 1988. The Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161), also constituted an important precedent for the legislative reforms proposed during that period; amongst other things, they introduced the notion of a broader scope in national legislation. The Council Directive on Safety and Health at Work of 1989⁽⁵¹⁾ constitutes the best example of this. It applies to all sectors of economic activity, including agriculture, without prejudice to more stringent European Union provisions to be adopted in the future.

A number of safety and health directives based on this framework Directive have since been adopted. The need for a Directive on the protection of workers in agriculture has been discussed on a number of occasions within the European Commission but the initiative has not been officially proposed to date.⁽⁵²⁾

As mentioned before, there are few countries that have safety and health laws which address agriculture in a comprehensive manner. The most relevant examples are to be found in Argentina and France.

In Argentina the Regulations on Health and Safety for Agricultural Activities came into effect on 7 July 1997.⁽⁵³⁾ These regulations address a number of aspects of the safety and health of agricultural workers including: General obligations (Title I); Infrastructure (Title II); Machinery, Tools (Title III); Pollutants (Title IV); Electricity risks (Title V); Materials handling (Title VI); Fire prevention (Title VII); Vehicles (Title VIII); Forestry (Title IX); Animals (Title X) and Training (Title XI). The regulations were developed because it was acknowledged that existing safety and health laws in Argentina, although general in their scope, did not adequately address the specific risks of agricultural activities.⁽⁵⁴⁾ Argentina has also established a tripartite National Commission for Agricultural Work — which is part of the Ministry of Labour — to supervise the implementation of the law.

The French Labour Code provides the second example of a comprehensive legislative approach to safety and health in agriculture. It includes detailed provisions applicable to safety and health which have applied to agricultural undertakings since 1979.⁽⁵⁵⁾ The Labour Code outlines specific rules for the protection of safety and health in agricultural establishments.⁽⁵⁶⁾ These rules are supplemented by regulations and decrees which address certain aspects of safety and health in agriculture in greater detail.⁽⁵⁷⁾ The French Labour Code also makes special provision for the administration and enforcement of the safety and health requirements applicable to agricultural undertakings. Article L. 231-1-2 states that the powers conferred on the Minister of Labour and labour inspectors under the Code "shall be exercised in relation to the agricultural establishments mentioned in article L. 231-1 by the Minister responsible for agriculture and the labour inspectors working under his authority, respectively". The Minister of Agriculture is to be assisted in the development of decrees and regulations applicable to the agricultural sector by advisory bodies made up of equal numbers of representatives of employers' and workers' organizations.⁽⁵⁸⁾ The Code refers to occupational medicine⁽⁵⁹⁾ which also applies to the agricultural sector. It requires employers to "organize occupational medical services" in accordance with the relevant articles and relevant decrees.⁽⁶⁰⁾

Brazilian law also includes comprehensive provisions applicable to the safety and health of agricultural workers. Act No. 5.889 of 5 June 1973 is a framework law concerned with rural workers. However, the legislative Act did not come into effect until 15 years after it was enacted under the Ordinance made under the regulations of
Act No. 5.889 (1988). In the same year, rural workers were explicitly equated with urban workers under article 7 of the federal Constitution.⁽⁶¹⁾ As a consequence of these reforms, a series of regulations was also promulgated under this law in 1988, addressing matters, such as accident prevention, personal protective equipment and chemicals.

Other examples include, but are not limited to: Australia, Canada, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. All these countries have a significant body of decrees and regulations that apply to agricultural work which are designed to protect the safety and health of workers.

The broad duties in framework safety and health laws and labour codes are of limited effect unless they are accompanied by more specific decrees and regulations that specify exposure standards, record-keeping and reporting requirements, as well as other detailed rules. It is common for such regulations to be developed as part of a package of codes of practice, guidance notes and other similar documents. The purpose of these instruments, which may not be legally binding, is to provide employers and others with practical guidance on how they may fulfil their statutory duties of care.

The subordinate safety and health laws in many countries operate at three inter-related levels:

It is at levels two and three that the national laws of certain countries address safety and health issues relevant to agriculture. However, many such laws fail to address agricultural safety and health matters comprehensively due to the lack of detailed standards. This represents a major gap in the legislative coverage of the safety and health of agricultural workers. There are indications of positive developments in this regard as a number of countries are in the process of enacting specific legislation for the sector. The ILO has been advised by Fiji that the Government expects to promulgate specific agriculture-related regulations and standards within the next two to three years. In May of 1998, Bulgaria introduced a proposed Act on Agricultural and Forestry Machinery into its National Assembly. Chile has recently enacted a code of practice on forestry work.

Safety and health provisions in general labour codes range from extensive and comprehensive provisions to those that are more specific — which mainly cover machinery safety and chemical safety. Certain countries supplement basic provisions in their labour codes by more comprehensive requirements in specific decrees or regulations (for example, Brazil, Cuba, Spain and Viet Nam).⁽⁶²⁾ There are also provisions concerning issues relevant to working conditions and specific categories of workers in agriculture, such as maternity protection, migrant workers, child labour, hours of work and accident compensation.⁽⁶³⁾ Some countries have comprehensive safety and health regulations in addition to the provisions in their labour codes that relate to occupational safety and health (Burundi, China, France and Poland).⁽⁶⁴⁾ Certain countries incorporate safety and health legislation into their labour codes by referring to that legislation without repeating its wording (Japan, Republic of Korea).⁽⁶⁵⁾

Among the large number of subordinate decrees and regulations applicable to the agricultural sector, there are a number of them that address:

In this section, the report examines examples of regulations and codes that are relevant to agricultural machinery and equipment.

Tractor roll-overs and exposure to dangerous parts of agricultural machinery and equipment such as augers and harvesting equipment are the cause of many injuries and fatalities among agricultural workers and members of their families.⁽⁶⁶⁾

In a number of countries, decrees and regulations have been made pursuant to general safety and health laws requiring manufacturers and employers to ensure the safety of those workers who use certain equipment and machinery (Hungary, Namibia, Norway).⁽⁶⁷⁾ Legislation of this nature usually requires a manufacturer to ensure that the equipment it manufactures is safe for consumers and stipulates that employers must provide and maintain safe machinery and equipment for their workers. These requirements are consistent with the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155).

It is common for certain agricultural machinery such as tractors to be singled out under safety and health legislation with requirements for special safeguards such as roll-over protection structures (ROPS). Countries such as Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, and the United States have had such laws in place for more than a decade. Spain has enacted detailed laws regulating tractors and other agricultural machinery in recent years. Under typical laws requiring ROPS, obligations are placed on manufacturers and suppliers of identified tractors to fit them with ROPS prior to distribution and sale. There are also duties imposed on employers to ensure that tractors are fitted with ROPS.⁽⁶⁸⁾ As mentioned before, the Council of the European Communities has also adopted a number of Directives on agricultural machinery including a Directive on ROPS in 1987.⁽⁶⁹⁾

The Guarding of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119), and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 118) apply to "mobile agricultural machinery".⁽⁷⁰⁾ While the Convention as a whole is thus applicable to machinery used in agriculture, article 1 (3) (b) states that the provisions of the Convention apply to "mobile agricultural machinery only in relation to the safety of workers employed in connection with such machinery". The Convention came into force on 21 April 1965 and had been ratified by 49 member States as at 17 June 1998.

In its 1987 General Survey on safety in the working environment, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations⁽⁷¹⁾ noted that a number of countries (Cyprus, Sierra Leone and Zaire⁽⁷²⁾) were in the process of extending their machinery guarding laws so as to regulate agricultural machinery as well as machinery in factories as required by the Convention.

The Committee of Experts has also frequently commented in its reports on the failure by countries, including those which have ratified Convention No. 119, to implement the Convention fully in relation to agricultural machinery. For example, in its 1989 Report on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, the Committee noted that legislation in Zaire did not extend to agricultural machinery. Similar observations were made by the Committee in relation to Turkey in 1990, Morocco in 1995 and again in 1998 and Ghana in 1996 and again in 1998.

In its report to the Committee of Experts, France identified the inclusion of mobile agricultural machinery in Convention No. 119 as a reason for not ratifying the instrument.⁽⁷³⁾ However, in 1987, only one country had limited the Convention upon ratification as permitted under Article 17 (2).⁽⁷⁴⁾

The safety and health laws of many countries impose an obligation on manufacturers and suppliers of hazardous substances — as well as on employers which use them — to protect workers from the dangers associated with these substances. Legislation of this nature usually requires that manufacturers and suppliers provide the recipients of substances with hazard information such as chemical safety data sheets. Employers are in turn instructed to observe certain safeguards including the provision of information to workers about the substances they use at work.

The most commonly used substances in agriculture are fertilizers and pesticides. The use of pesticides and other agrochemicals is the subject of detailed regulation in many countries.⁽⁷⁵⁾ In countries such as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka such laws, along with legislation concerning "plantations", are the main safety and health laws applicable to agriculture.

The Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170), and its accompanying Recommendation No. 177 came into force on 4 November 1993; the Convention had received seven ratifications as at 17 June 1998. According to the Preamble, the purpose of the Convention is to "prevent or reduce the incidence of chemically induced illnesses and injuries at work". It applies to "all branches of economic activity in which chemicals are used" (Article 1). As chemicals are extensively used in agriculture, the Convention is clearly of great significance to the agricultural sector.

The Migrant Workers Recommendation, 1975 (No. 151), recognizes the difficulties faced by migrant workers in this regard. Article 22 (1) recommends that employers "should take all possible measures so that migrant workers may fully understand instructions, warnings, symbols and other signs relating to safety and health hazards at work". Article 22 (3) discusses a suggested approach to these matters by member States.

In its 1980 General Survey on migrant workers, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations concluded that the special problems faced by migrant workers in relation to safety and health made it "essential not only to ensure adequate training in safety and health but also to make employers aware of the need to ensure that migrant workers fully understand all safety and health instructions and precautions, and of the fact that it may be necessary for [employers] to take special measures for this purpose, since the instructions and training given to other workers may be inadequate for migrant workers".⁽⁷⁶⁾

In a number of countries, legislation requires agricultural employers to provide basic amenities, such as housing, sanitation facilities, drinking water, transport in the event of injury and first-aid facilities to workers; these amenities are occasionally extended to members of workers' families. The legislative provisions range from those which are highly detailed, addressing such matters as dietary requirements (for example, Chile and Uruguay), to very general provisions requiring "suitable and sufficient" accommodation (New Zealand).⁽⁷⁷⁾

The safety and health laws of many countries also recognize the importance of training and information; indeed, they make it a duty for employers, including employers in agriculture, to provide this training and information to their workers (Ethiopia, Norway).⁽⁷⁸⁾ Similar provisions are contained in the laws of countries that specifically address safety and health in agriculture (Argentina, France).⁽⁷⁹⁾

The predominance of illiterate and migrant workers in agriculture performing seasonal work during harvest periods means that many workers face reading, language and cultural difficulties when carrying out their tasks, thus undermining their safety.

In certain national laws, there is explicit recognition of the importance of providing information in languages that are understandable to the workers. For example, the Hungarian law states:

The safety and health laws in Australia (Victoria) and Fiji contain a similar requirement that specifies the importance of information being provided in a language that may be understood by the workers.⁽⁸¹⁾ A code of practice has also been prepared by the Victorian competent authority to help employers meet their obligations in relation to workers whose first language is not English.⁽⁸²⁾ Illiteracy is widespread among agricultural workers in developing countries — and some countries take this into account in their provisions. For example, in Argentina, an agricultural employer must take into account "the education attained by a worker" in determining which training to provide.⁽⁸³⁾

It is universally recognized that workers require safety-related training and information to enable them to perform their work in a manner that is safe to themselves and others. Article 19 (d) of Convention No. 155 states that arrangements at the level of the undertaking shall ensure that "workers and their representatives in the undertaking are given appropriate training in occupational safety and health"; and Paragraph 12 (2) (a) of Recommendation No. 164 adds that this training should be supplemented by "adequate information on safety and health matters".

In addition to the general safety and health acts and regulations addressing specific safety and health issues in the agricultural sector, there are laws which "stand alone" in the sense that they are not subordinate to framework safety and health laws. One of the significant consequences of this distinction is that the "stand alone" laws are often administered by an agency or institution different from the agency administering the framework safety and health laws or labour codes. For example, pesticides laws are generally administered by the ministries of agriculture, environment or health. This has consequences for the coordination of the administration and enforcement of safety and health laws applying to the agricultural sector.

While there are notable exceptions, which have already been mentioned, the lack of a policy and a comprehensive approach to the enactment of legislation for the sector has resulted in the enforcement of specific regulations by different ministries — often without coordination. This may significantly compromise the application of the principal legislation to the agricultural sector. A case in point is Honduras. With a view to promoting technological development in agriculture and avoiding some of the bureaucratic obstacles for modernization, the legislation of Honduras enables agricultural producers to import "raw materials, tools or agricultural machinery" without obtaining the authorization or administrative permits that would otherwise be needed.⁽⁸⁴⁾ In addition, technical advice on safety measures and guidance on the selection of chemicals and agricultural equipment is not provided to such producers.

There are three limitations inherent in the scope of the general safety and health laws discussed above in relation to their application to the agricultural sector. First, as noted, the broad regulatory frameworks established by this type of legislation are, to a great extent, only effective inasmuch as they pave the way for detailed standards in the form of regulations, decrees, orders and codes of practice, etc. Only a small number of countries has developed a comprehensive set of standards applicable to agriculture. Second, in many countries, only those employed under contracts of employment are entitled to the full protection provided for under the legislation. For example, rights — such as the right to be trained, to elect a health and safety representative and to be medically examined periodically — are generally only available to "workers" under this type of legislation. As a large number of those who work in the agricultural sector are family members and other informal labourers, such as temporary and seasonal workers, the legislative protections are generally of limited interest to them or have no effect at all. Third, the legislation in many countries does not cover the self-employed as it is restricted to those employed under "contracts of service".

One important area of concern both for countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent States is the updating of occupational safety and health legislation to take account of the current economic and political situation. The need for sound environmental and safety and health practices at the workplace in order to protect agricultural workers' health was discussed recently at a meeting on environmental and occupational safety and health in agriculture held in Kiev in September 1998.⁽⁸⁵⁾

1. Where the report refers to the laws of federal States, the reader may assume that the references are to laws enacted by the national parliaments of the States concerned unless otherwise indicated. In the event that the law referred to is one made by a State or provincial parliament within a federation, the following nomenclature is employed: "Australia (Victoria)", "United States (California)", etc.

4. See Brazilian Act No. 6.260 of 6 Nov. 1975 concerning the social protection of employers and rural workers.

5. For the list of ILO Conventions and Recommendations relevant to agriculture see Annexes I and II.

6. ILO: Occupational health problems in agriculture, Report of the Fourth Session of the ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health (Geneva, 1963), p. 4.

7. ILO: Labour inspection, General Survey by the Committee of Experts on the application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report III (Part 4B), International Labour Conference, 71st Session, Geneva, 1985, para. 53.

9. In 1970, the Committee of Experts on the application of Conventions and Recommendations noted the exclusion of agriculture from the safety and health laws of many countries. See ILO: Health, welfare and housing of workers. A survey of effect given to four ILO Recommendations (ILO, Geneva, 1970).

10. Cambodia: Labour Law 1992, Ch. 7 (excludes family farms); Turkey: Labour Act 1971, section 5. See also, ILO: Safety in the Working Environment, General Survey by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report III (Part 4B), International Labour Conference, 73rd Session, Geneva, 1987.

11. Austria: Agricultural Labour Act 1948; Argentina: Decree No. 390, Act No. 390; Cameroon: Decree No. 68-DF-250 of 10 July 1968 to lay down the rules for the application of hours of work and provisions and exceptions thereto in agricultural and similar undertakings; Greece: Acts Nos. 1264/82, 1361, 4169 and 1915 (each of which addresses a separate aspect of the regulation of labour relations in agriculture); Morocco: Dahir made under Act No. 1-72-219 of 24 Apr. 1973; United States (California): California Labour Code, Part 3.5.

12. For a discussion of the influence of British factories legislation on the laws in several African countries, see: African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety. Legislation as a tool in occupational health and safety (Helsinki), Vol. 2, No. 3, 1992.

13. For example, such legislation was first introduced into the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1910. See the Safety Ordinance, State Gazette, No. 406, 1910.

14. See the Factories Act 1948 (India); Factories Act 1990 (Nigeria); Factories Ordinance (Sri Lanka); Factories, Machinery and Construction Works Act, 1972 (Swaziland); and the Factories Ordinance (Trinidad and Tobago) and the Factories and Works Act, Ch. 283 (Zimbabwe). Commentators have deplored the absence of comprehensive safety and health laws in India. See T. K. Joshi: "Practising occupational health in India", in J. M. Stellman (ed.): Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety, 4th ed., Vol 1. (ILO, Geneva, 1998).

15. Factories Act 1934 (Pakistan) and Ordinance to provide for the welfare of labour in tea plantations, 1962, section 2, limit the operation of this Ordinance to plantations employing 30 or more workers. In Nepal, the Labour Act 1992 (which repeals and replaces earlier factories legislation) is limited in its scope to industrial enterprises and tea estates employing more than ten people.

16. For a discussion of the safety and health risks faced by child labourers in agriculture, see V. Forastieri, op. cit.

17. Sections 87-95. See also the Australian Workplace Relations Act 1996: sections 127A-127C which enable the industrial tribunal (the Australian Industrial Relations Commission) to review the working conditions of independent contractors in certain circumstances and section 281 of the Mexican Federal Labour Code concerning sharecroppers and tenant farmers.

18. Fiji: Health and Safety at Work Act (1996), section 10; Namibia: Labour Act (1992), section 97; New Zealand: Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992), section 15; South Africa: Occupational Health and Safety Act (1993), section 9.

19. ILO: Labour Administration, General Survey by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations; Report III (Part 4B), International Labour Conference, 85th Session, 1997, Geneva, para. 137.

20. Para. 18 of the Recommendation refers to the provision by landowners of adequate housing, the provision of drinking water and sanitary installations.

22. W. G. Vause: "Occupational safety and health law for agricultural employment", in Stetson Law Review (St. Petersburg, Florida), Vol. 8, No. 1, 1978.

23. Act No. 4 of 4 Feb. 1977 respecting workers' protection and the working environment, Ch. 1, section 2 (5).

24. Republic of Korea: Labour Standards Act (1997), section 10 (five or more employees); Nepal: Labour Act (1992), section 2 (b) — definition of "establishment" (ten or more employees).

27. Costa Rica: Labour Code, section 89; Lithuania: Law No. I-266 on labour protection, Ch. 6, subchapter 1; Nicaragua: Labour Code, sections 131 and 133; Sweden: Working Environment Act (No. 1160 of 1997), Ch. 5, section 3.

29. ILO: Child labour in agriculture. A survey of national legislation (unpublished paper) (ILO, Geneva, 1996).

30. For example, Dominican Republic: Labour Code, section 282; Panama: Labour Code, section 119; Portugal: Legislative Decree No. 396/21 establishing new rules for the employment of minors, section 122 (2).

32. Source for number of ratifications: ILO: Lists of ratifications by Convention and by country, Report III (Part 2), International Labour Conference, 86th Session, Geneva, 1998.

33. Art. 5, para. 4. As long ago as 1920, the ILO prohibited, with limited exceptions, the employment of children under the age of 14 years "in any public or private agricultural undertaking . . .": Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1920 (No. 10); note the effect of Art. 10 (3) of Convention No. 138 on Convention No. 10.

34. China: Labour Code (1994), Ch. VII, sections 61-63; Lithuania: Act No. I-266 on labour protection, Ch. 6, subchapter 2; Nicaragua: Labour Code (1996), sections 130-137.

35. ILO: Maternity protection at work, Report V (1), International Labour Conference, 87th Session, 1999 (Geneva, 1997).

36. See: "International Conference on Occupational Health and Safety in the Informal Sector (ICOHIS'97)" in Asian-Pacific Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety (Helsinki), Vol. 5, No. 1, 1998.

37. For example, the original Swedish safety and health law, the 1889 Law on Dangerous Occupations only applied to industrial occupations. It was only after a committee reviewed that law in 1938 that a new law was enacted in 1949 which extended to the agricultural sector. The 1949 law was in turn repealed and replaced by the 1977 Work Environment Act which remains in force to this day. See: J. E. Korostoff, L. M. Zimmerman and C. E. Ryan: "Rethinking the OSHA approach to workplace safety: A look at worker participation in the enforcement of safety regulations in Sweden, France and Great Britain", in Comparative Labour Law Journal (University of Philadelphia), No. 13, 1991.

38. Mauritius: The Occupational Health and Safety and Welfare Act No. 34, (1988); Lesotho: The Labour Code Order (1992); Namibia: The Labour Act (1992).

39. Australia (Federal): Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act (1991); Australia (State): Workplace Health and Safety Act (1995) (Tasmania); Bulgaria: Health and Safety at Work Act (1997) (State Gazette 124 of 23 Dec. 1997); Fiji: Health and Safety at Work Act (1996); Hungary: Act No. 93 concerning Occupational Safety and Health; Malaysia: Occupational Health and Safety Act (1994) (No. 514); Mexico: Federal Act for Safety, Hygiene and the Environment (1997) (21 Jan. 1997); New Zealand: Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992).

40. Trinidad and Tobago is at present introducing a comprehensive safety and health statute which will replace the Factories Ordinance. The new Act, to be known as the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1998, will apply to all agricultural workers.

41. For a summary of the major findings and recommendations in the report, see: B. Creighton, P. Rozen: Occupational health and safety law in Victoria (The Federation Press, Sydney), 2nd. ed., 1997.

42. Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work, in Official Journal of the European Communities, Vol. 32, No. L183 (Brussels, 29 June 1989).

43. J. Manos: "Occupational safety and health directives of the European Union: An overview" in: D. Brune et al. (eds.) The Workplace, Vol. 1 (Scandinavian Science Publishers, Oslo and CIS/ILO, Geneva, 1997).

45. 1993, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Republic of South Africa, section 5 (3).

46. See Agricultural Workers Act (1997) (New Zealand): part VI, Safety, health and welfare.

47. See Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (New Zealand): section 62 (1) and schedule 3.

48. See Part VI of the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations (1995) which deal with requirements for accommodation facilities and cooking facilities for agricultural workers.

49. In the United Kingdom, the repeal of agricultural safety and health laws (such as the Agriculture — Safety, Health and Welfare Provisions — Act 1956) has involved a consultative process; see Health and Safety Commission: The proposed removal of outdated agricultural health and safety legislation, HSE Booklet CD102, HSE Books (Sudbury, United Kingdom, 1996).

50. Official Journal of the European Communities (Brussels, 4 Dec. 1976), Vol. 19, No. C287.

52. L. Vogel: "L'observatoire du BTS sur l'application des directives européennes: un premier bilan", in L'environnement du travail dans l'Union européenne: le difficile passage du droit à la pratique, European Trade Union Technical Bureau for Health and Safety (TUTB), 1997 Conference, Brussels, 1-2 Dec. 1997.

54. Argentina also has general legislation concerning safety and health: Act No. 19587 respecting occupational health and safety (1972) and Act No. 24557 respecting hazards at work (1995).

55. Title III of Book 2 of the French Labour Code, article L.231-1 and Decree No. 79-228 of 20 Mar. 1979.