CEBU, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is urging companies to be proactive in protecting their workers by complying strictly with safety and health standards to avoid accidents and deaths.
TUCP made the call following the 15 deaths that occurred in workplaces last month. Of the 15 deaths, 10 occurred in mining sites in Nueva Vizcaya while five occurred at a construction site in Cebu.
A total of 51 deaths and 22 injuries were recorded in workplaces from January to April this year.
“We have to be proactive to protect workers, their families and their communities. It’s not enough that we file criminal cases against owners of erring companies or that we issue show cause or close orders. Workplace safety is no accident. If workplaces are inspected properly, compliance with safety and health standards and untoward accidents and deaths in workplaces could have been prevented,” said TUCP Partylist Representative Raymond Democrito Mendoza.
Mendoza said that there are many ways to verify compliance with labor standards and ensure workers’ safety.
TUCP and its affiliate, the Associated Labor Unions and the Building and Woodworkers International, are working jointly to promote safety in the workplace and the giving of similar attention to health hazards extending outside workplaces.
For his part, TUCP General Secretary and former senator Ernesto Herrera said accidents, injuries, and deaths in workplaces highlight the “incompetence, failures and sins in workplace accidents prevention.”
TUCP is leading activities for the “World Day for Safety and Health at Work” in the country, which will highlight the tripartite sectors’ calls for government’s ratification of Convention No. 187 and other related instruments and the reiteration of occupational safety and health higher in the government’s core priorities.- THE FREEMAN
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