1. David Walters Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre
An Inspector Calls....no more? Labour inspection and the changing world of work in the European Union
David Walters
Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre

2. What this presentation is about
OSH or Labour inspection in Europe
ILO Labour Inspection Convention (No. 81), outlines broad principles concerning the structure and functions of national inspection systems ratified by most countries in the European Union including partially by UK.
Differences in inspection systems
Implications of change
Some reflections on current practices and paradoxes in Europe — and implications for UK?

3. Approaches to inspection
Complex range of approaches to labour/OSH inspection :
Europe:
Generalist– Latin model eg. France, Spain —
Occupational safety, health and welfare (and sometimes hours of work);
General conditions of work and sometimes wages;
Industrial relations;
Employment-related matters such as illegal employment, vocational training and employment promotion;
Social security issues.
Specialist UK Scandinavian
Dual system with accident insurance - Germany

4. Other variations But further variation in Europe including:
Variations in regional autonomy – Spain, Germany, Italy
Shared responsibilities with other inspection bodies - Italy/UK

5. Qualifications
In most countries of the EU, labour inspection is a profession in its own right,
Usually part of public  administration
Legal, engineering or technical subjects — reflect whether inspectorates are generalist or specialist OHS ones,
Receive further training in the particular skills of inspection.
Generally, qualifications reflect traditional concerns additional training of varying extent

6. Challenges Significant changes to work organisation and labour markets
Evidence that these changes have consequences for protecting/managing OHS – they also impact on the institutional arrangements supporting this:
More ‘hard to reach’ work, workers & duty-holders (eg risk-shifting in subcontracting & ‘undeclared’ work
Scope of guidance, penalties and enforcement
Reduced union presence and participative mechanisms/worker awareness/involvement
Reduced reach of OHS prevention
Effects also weaken injury and disease surveillance
All imply increased challenges for regulatory inspection

7. Effects of the neo-liberal state
Change in political/policy orientations of governance
From ‘Social Europe’ to ‘Better Regulation’
At national levels emphasis focused on reducing ‘regulatory burdens’ for business
Business friendly inspection
Economic crisis and austerity measures
Reduced resourcing

8. Changes in labour inspection strategies to address change:
Organisational and policy responses:
Greater attention to strategic co-ordination, stimulation and promotional activities increasing reach and ‘buy-in’
Support for greater ‘stakeholder’ involvement in work environment issues by labour market actors and other interest groups
Policy reorientation emphasising target setting and evaluation in relation to inspection practices 
In many cases regulatory authority strategies set quantitative targets for inspection of particular work activities
Sometimes leads inspectors to feel less able to act on the full range of risks they may encounter during an inspection.
Implications of most of these changes for worker representatives – inspectors even less ‘hands on’ than previously,

9. More inspection of temporary/agency firms
Enforcement and compliance practices:
It is claimed there is:
broadened surveillance for multi-employer arrangements, public/private regulatory mixes
More inspection of temporary/agency firms
going upstream in inspection/supervision of supply chains
Effects have not been independently evaluated

10. Extending reach: Emergent risks
Greater focus on advice and guidance, cascading messages to ‘hard to reach’ duty-holders such as small and micro firms, foreign firms and workers, sub-contractors, migrant workers etc
Emergent risks
Inspection strategies for risk management in relation to emergent trends such as psychosocial risks and MSDs
Increased concerns with undeclared/undocumented work and greater resourcing for some inspectorates to address this issue*

11. On inspection and undocumented work:
“This is the problem of undeclared work….you cannot enforce anything if the company is not registered and is not declared. This is the problem. You cannot impose fines to these kinds of companies. You cannot check, you have no powers, no real powers to enforce the law in these kinds of companies, the first assumption is that the company should be declared, should be registered in social security, inland revenue… all this sort of thing.”
(Director of the Labour Inspectorate in one Spanish Autonomous Region)
But for most inspectorates and governments – this is about increasing state revenues

12. General conclusions:
It is possible that the generalist labour inspection model is more appropriate for regulatory to addressing the consequences of the current structure and organisation of work. But empirical evidence is limited.
Innovative approaches identified but practiced in relatively few countries.
Piecemeal, many gaps & little coordinated strategy
Limited resourcing/political support for broader or more stringent regulation or regulatory enforcement
Mostly nation-based interventions but problems increasingly transnational
Significant reduction in resourcing of labour inspection for OHS regulation in majority of countries

13. Some reflections
Generally poor or non-existent evaluation at both national and EU levels in relation to actions on emergent trends and risks
There is a tension in the overlap between the need for innovation in the face of emergent trends and risks ……and the adoption of practices to offset the effects of reduced resourcing and the political demand for reduced regulatory inspection
Political drivers of change are not those aimed at improving the reach or effectiveness of labour inspection but rather, those of facilitating greater freedoms for capital — ‘from social Europe to better regulation’
Patterns are similar everywhere – but more extreme in the UK

14. Coming soon …..
The next issue of the ETUI’s periodical on health and safety at work,— HESA Magazine — is a special issue on Labour Inspection in the European Union – out next month!
Available from ETUI, Bd du Roi Albert II, 5 / 1210 Brussels / Belgium