Safety in the Workplace – Statutory Requirements

Sure, we all have our own ideas on what safety in the workplace is. In the grand scheme of things, everybody needs to protect ourselves and our investments in the first place—even as we do have different notions on what that safety level is and the risks associated with it.

The thing is, that notion of safety, deliberately or unwittingly, is quite different and a lot of times less than the Philippine government requirements. And there lies the problem.

But are the requirements excessively stringent? Not quite. The Philippine government uses the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS) which was largely based from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Standards. It is not unreasonable.

It was promulgated under Article 162 (Safety and Health Standards) of P.D. 442 otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines. In short, it is based from a law, and we all know what happens when we violate the law, don’t we?

While the government, for lack of funds or manpower or “something” else, is sorely deficient in the enforcement and monitoring of the safety standards, it does not absolve companies from not following the rules or feigning ignorance.

I will not be able to cover every detail here, especially since different types of companies have different levels of safety needs; but let me enumerate the ones you absolutely need to have or know that are usually violated unsuspectingly.

Safety and Health Committee – OSHS Rule 1041 states that, “In every place of employment, a health and safety committee shall be organized.” This is not a token requirement; you need to submit an official list.

Safety and Health Workplace Policies – According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), “An occupational safety and health policy shall be formulated by each establishment addressing the priority safety and health concerns in workplaces.” Also, it is required that safety meetings be conducted at least once a month (OSHS Rule 1043). While the monthly meetings mentioned here may refer just to the Committee, a lot of companies, especially non-hazardous ones, seldom do this. Oh yeah, you need to keep minutes of the meetings, too.

Safety and Health Personnel – as business owner or manager, the law requires you to hire the applicable number of safety and health personnel such as safety officer, nurse, physician, dentist, and first-aid personnel. Not all may be required and the number will depend on the type of business and number of your employees (see OSHS Rule 1960: Occupational Health Services).

Training and Qualification – No, you cannot arbitrarily pick any of your employees and list them as your occupational health and safety personnel. Here are the basic requirements from OSHS Rule 1964:

First-Aider – Must have completed a course in first-aid conducted by the Phil. Red Cross or accredited organization.

Safety Officer – Must have completed the 40-hour Basic Occupational Health and Safety (BOSH) training.

Nurse – Must be licensed and must at least have 50 hours of training in occupational nursing. The latter requirement is a bit of a problem. It is usually the Occupational Health Nurses Association of the Philippines (OHNAP) that conducts this training and for some reason, there’s not a lot of training going on around this area (possibly due to lack of attendees).

Physician and Dentist – Not hard to find at all; you just have to shell a good amount of money out. You need to employ them in your workplace if you have 200 or more employees for non-hazardous and 100 and above for hazardous workplaces.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Devices – OSHS Rule 1081 states that, “Every employer… shall, at his own expense, furnish his workers with protective equipment…” This rule is violated whenever employers require their employees to buy the PPEs like goggles, gloves, safety shoes, and the like, especially as condition for employment.

Fire Extinguishers – OSHS Rule 1944.05 states that portable fire extinguishers shall be thoroughly examined, recharged, or repaired, at least every year. In general, for ordinary workplaces, a fire extinguisher should be available within 15 meters from any point in the work area. Better dust those fire extinguishers off.

Fire Drills – Rule 1948.03 states that, “Fire-exit drills shall be conducted at least twice a year to maintain an orderly evacuation of buildings, unless the local fire department requires a higher frequency of fire drills.”

Keeping of Records and Reporting – Yes, you need to do this, too (see OSHS Rule 1050: Notification and Keeping of Records of Accidents and/or Occupational Illnesses).

The above are just a tiny fraction of the rules and regulations on safety as required by law. They do differ as well from business to business but should be the basics of it.

Are you not compliant in any of the aforementioned? You’d better be or you will be in trouble sooner or later.

In any case, the above statutory requirements are there to protect you, your workers, and your investments. They aim to minimize accidents, fatal or non-fatal, caused by unsafe acts and conditions. According to studies, unsafe acts account for 88% of accidents while the latter accounts for 12%.

Safety is, of course, a global concern. In fact, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported recently that more than 500 workplace accidents happen every minute and one worker dies every 15 seconds.

Don’t be part of the accident statistics, safety up.

-----------------------------------------------------
(Prof. Danny Piano is a certified OSH safety officer and Premier Platinum member of the Phil. Red Cross.
His company has zero accidents in 16 years of operation inside the Freeport.)