ILOILO City – Traffic enforcers are not enthusiastic with the suggestion that they wear face masks while on duty.
“They said it’s cumbersome,” according to Jeck Conlu, head of the city government’s Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) that is managing the traffic enforcers.
While face masks protect them from air pollution, Conlu said, the traffic enforcers said these would make it harder for them to perform their duties.
A few years ago, according to Conlu, a concerned doctor donated face masks but traffic enforcers opted not to use them.
A Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) resolution approved recently urged the PSTMO to encourage traffic enforcers to wear face masks while on duty.
According to Councilor Candice Magdalane Tupas who sponsored the resolution, air pollution is an occupational hazard for traffic aides.
They could be inhaling air with pollutants such as harmful metals, said Tupas, a doctor.
Citing a study, Tupas said traffic aides are vulnerable to high blood pressure and other respiratory diseases due to air pollutants.
Conlu said the wearing of face masks by traffic aides would be optional / voluntary, not mandatory.
He also expressed support to the suggestion that traffic enforcers undergo yearly “pulmonary function test” and “stress test” to ensure their state of health.
