Page:Sergei Ilich Kaplun - The Protection of Labor in Soviet Russia (1920).pdf/21

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is to discover all the deviations from and violations of the rules and regulations, whether with regard to the rights of the workers or with regard to technical and sanitary protection of labor. All inspection takes place in conjunction with the representative of the local factory or works' Committee or other analogous committees. If, during the inspection a careless or spiteful attitude on the part of an owner or administration of the enterprise in question, is observed towards the interests of the life, health and protection of labor of workers and employees, the Labor Inspector takes the guilty party before the court or imposes a fine upon the same through the local Labor Department.

According to the decree, the Labor Inspector should not only carefully supervise the enforcement of existing laws, but he is also given the right to take all necessary measures for the removal of any circumstance which may be a menace to the life and health of the workers, even though such measures be not provided for by the law. In special cases when serious defects are discovered, the Inspector of labor has wide powers, including that of stopping machines or engines or looms, or even of closing down certain workshops or whole enterprises. Generally speaking, the Labor Inspector is the executive factor in our legislation, adapting all our regulations and decrees to the actual conditions and local peculiarities of a given district. With the consent and official sanction of the local trade union organizations, the inspectors may permit, in the event of extreme necessity, deviations from the existing standard, and establish the order in which one or another measure cannot be realized in its entirety, is to be enforced.

The Labor Inspectors do not confine their activity to visiting enterprises alone. They are to set up inquiry offices, where the workers are given all necessary information with detailed instructions on all questions of labor and social welfare; they are to accept reports and complaints concerning violation of labor protection laws and to direct workers

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