The Committee is the result of the European Union Commission Decision 95/319/EC of 12 July 1995 setting up a Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors. The Committee is a forum for discussion between the Commission and the representatives of the national authorities who are, amongst other things, responsible for monitoring the enforcement of secondary Community law on health and safety and who are consequently in direct contact with the businesses affected by it. The Committee provides the Commission with a channel for receiving information about any problems relating to the enforcement of secondary Community law. The Committee is also a forum for the national authorities to compare experience of the structure, methods and instruments of labour inspection. Although the Committee's activities focus on health and safety at work, it also gives an opinion on matters covering other areas of Community social legislation, which have an impact on health and safety at work. All the EU Member States have ratified the ILO Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81). This Convention lays down the main rules governing the establishment, organization, resources, powers and obligations, functions and responsibilities of the labour inspection system as an institution responsible for ensuring the protection of workers at work and promoting legislation adapted to the developing needs in the workplace. In many Member States, in addition to health and safety at work, labour inspectorates are also responsible for a whole range of areas comprising social benefits, pay, leave and working hours, employment relationships, environmental protection, and the management of employment and vocational training policies. See: Labour inspection