\nThe correct application of labor legislation requires, among other things, a responsible and social commitment on the part of companies towards their workers, as well as a sufficient number of inspectors to guarantee the supervisory function in the area of occupational health and safety. In fact, it has been shown that labor inspectorates promote the improvement of working conditions in companies and, therefore, have a positive impact on workers' health. In this sense, the optimal benchmark is considered to be 1 labor inspector per 10,000 workers.<\/p>\n
In countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region, the ratio ranges from 0.1 to 1.9 inspectors.<\/p>\n
![\"Inspecci\u00f3n](\"https:\/\/uees.edu.ec\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/inspeccion-seguridad-y-salud-ocupacional-en-evcuador.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
For the case of our country, as far as we know and for 2019, the ratio stood at 0.6 inspectors of the
\nand 0.04 technicians. Therefore, there is clearly a deficit to cover the 3.7 million workers. The increase in the number of inspectors according to international recommendations and their homogeneous distribution throughout the national territory would be one of the first actions to be considered as a priority in public agendas.<\/p>\n
Advisory role<\/strong> Criteria for on-site visits<\/strong> In conclusion, it is worth highlighting the important work carried out by the Safety, Occupational Health and Integrated Risk Management Department in recent years, although we must recognize the need to reflect on the actions outlined in this brief editorial note if the current status quo is to be overcome.<\/p>\n Antonio Ram\u00f3n G\u00f3mez-Garc\u00eda<\/strong> El Ministerio del Trabajo en la Rep\u00fablica del Ecuador, como en la mayor\u00eda de los pa\u00edses, es el \u00f3rgano rector de ejercer las funciones de inspector\u00edas para verificar y garantizar el cumplimiento de la normativa laboral en las empresas. Para ello, las Direcciones Regionales de Trabajo y Empleo cuentan con funcionarios para realizar dichas funciones. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[423,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-esai","category-noticias"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nTraditionally and up to the present day, labor inspectors have been described as a policing and sanctioning authority. However, the system of fines has not proven to be the most effective mechanism for ensuring legal compliance in occupational safety and health. A second action, without neglecting the rigorousness of the functions of labor inspectors, would consist of readjusting the current supervisory role to one of advising on the promotion of safety and health in \u201chealthy organizations\u201d workplaces, rather than on economic sanctions themselves. For this change in the way of acting, in addition to the previous point, it would be appropriate to promote the professional career with high standards and ethical practices among labor inspectors, as proposed by the International Association of Labor Inspection.<\/p>\n
\nThere may be shortcomings in the preventive management of companies. Recently (August 2022), the checklists for compliance with legal requirements in this area have been updated. Companies are obliged to evidence (communicate) their occupational health and safety management by means of a report in a web system of the Ministry of Labor (Sistema \u00danico del Trabajo - SUT). The information generated makes it possible to know the percentage of compliance of each company and, in turn, is used as one of the criteria for on-site visits for those cases in which insufficiencies are observed. However, the truth is that it seems unavoidable to suspect the existence of a gap between what has been declared and reality. As a third and last action, and in order to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency of the inspection activity considering the available resources, it would be very beneficial to include other alternative criteria for the prioritization of those companies to be audited. The results of the application of occupational accident rate indicators would be very useful in facilitating the identification of economic activities with a greater risk to workers' health, considering the size of the company and territorial location (9,10).<\/p>\n
\nDirector of the Ecuadorian Observatory of Occupational Safety and Health (OESST)<\/strong>
\nEspiritu Santo University<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"