Work injuries ease but labor still pushing passage of safety laws

THE NUMBER of non-farm employees injured while on duty declined by a fifth in 2007, latest data from the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) showed.

But a labor leader and former government official said the numbers could have worsened over the years as the country’s labor market continued to face safety and health issues.

Injuries went down to 46,570 from 58,720 four years earlier, results of the 2008 BLES Integrated Survey, which covered 6,460 non-agricultural establishments nationwide, showed.

A little over half or 56% of those injured in 2007 had minor injuries that required just first-aid treatment.

The remaining 44% or 20,386 impaired employees were unable to report for work due to injuries ranging from superficial ones to as serious as traumatic amputations or even death.

“Almost all cases of occupational injuries with workdays lost in 2007 were temporary disabilities,” the BLES said.

However, the ranks of those permanently incapacitated grew by 23.7% to 162 from 131 in 2003. Fatalities from work-related injuries declined to 116 in 2007 from 170 in 2003.

Of the 12 sectors covered by the survey, manufacturing recorded the most number of occupational injuries at 30,790 cases in 2007. This, though, was already a marked improvement from the 40,498 cases recorded in 2003.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines secretary-general and former senator Ernesto F. Herrera believes the figures might have increased over the years.

“Work-related injuries [might have increased] given the number of diseases like the AH1N1 virus and HIV/AIDS (human immuno virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome), dengue, natural phenomena and poor safety measures in the industries that we’ve witnessed,” Mr. Herrera said in a phone interview.

One factor is the varied work schedules call centers keep, which pose risk to their workers’ safety and health.

Also, in 2009, the influenza AH1N1 or swine flu virus reached Philippine shores, infecting about 200 Filipinos nationwide and resulting in work and school class disruptions.

“Occupational safety is becoming worse. We have to take care of our workers because they are the ones contributing to our economy,” Mr. Herrera, who also used to head the Agrarian Reform and Environment departments, said.

“And we can do that by providing and revisiting laws that will protect them. And of course the Labor Code should also be looked into since it’s already outdated,” Mr. Herrera noted.

Pending bills

In the Arroyo administration, four bills were filed to ensure employees’ safety while on duty.

Senator Manuel B. Villar, Jr. filed Senate Bill No. 621 in June 2004, which sought to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Code to protect workers’ physical and mental health.

House Bill No. 5508 or the Uniform Warnings on Protective Equipment Act of 2008 was authored by sectoral representative Narciso D. Santiago III, requiring employers to heighten awareness on the proper use of personal protective equipment at the workplace.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, meanwhile, filed Senate Bill No. 3141 or the Airborne Particulates Regulatory Act of 2009, to promote people’s right to health, particularly in mining, construction, and in occupations with exposure to airborne particles of silica, asbestos, and coal dust, all of which are either known or suspected causes of cancer.

The bills did not get past first reading.

On top of the three bills, TUCP Party-list representative Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza pushed for a ban on the importation, manufacture, processing and distribution of asbestos and asbestos-containing products, under House Bill No. 6544. It did not get past the Committee on Health.

“I wish that the [chairmen] of the House and Senate Committees on Labor and Employment fast-track or refile the bills by the next administration so that the government will sufficiently protect the workers,” Mr. Herrera said. — Ma. Aizl Camille B. Cabarles, Businessworld