HERE’S one good news: the bill strengthening compliance to occupational safety and health standards (OSHS) has been approved by Congress. It’s a long overdue correction to the 41-year-old Labor Code that did not consider OSHS violations as unlawful. President Duterte should sign it immediately.
The OSH bill’s historic approval is a significant gain for the workers’ struggle for justice. It can also be considered a positive step in the campaign to uphold the workers’ basic right to health and safety. Most importantly, it could hopefully put an end to workplace tragedies.
Senseless workplace deaths have to stop. In a span of almost three years, more than a hundred workers have died due to fires caused by employers’ non-compliance with fire safety and occupational health and safety laws. In 2015 a huge fire killed more than 72 workers of Kentex Manufacturing Inc., a slippers factory in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila. In February last year, a fire in the House Technology Industries inside the Cavite Export Processing Zone left many workers injured and still many others unaccounted for. Then in December also in 2017 another fire tragedy claimed the lives of 37 call center employees of Survey Sampling International when they were trapped inside the burning NCCC Mall in Davao City. Workplace fires can be prevented through regular and strict inspection of compliance with OSH standards by business establishments, particularly those which are considered hazardous and fire-prone.
The Congress-approved OSH bill requires mandatory training on basic occupational safety and health for safety officers as prescribed by the Department of Labor and Employment. Employers must provide a workplace free from hazardous conditions, and give workers complete job safety instructions or orientation and inform them of the hazards associated with their work, the bill said. They must also provide protective and safety devices such as personal protective equipment and machine guards.
But all these can only be ensured if the government should conduct mandatory inspection of all workplaces regardless of size and kind of operation. The OSH law can guarantee this.
