TUCP to government: Impose strict measures on safety, health

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has called on government to impose stricter measures on private employers who disregard the safety and health of workers, after the tally of accidents in 22 worksites totaled 51 deaths and eight injuries since January this year.

TUCP general secretary Ernesto Herrera said workplaces have increasingly become dangerous for workers with five new deaths in a construction site in Cebu City and 10 from a mining accident in Nueva Vizcaya.

“All these workplace accidents, injuries and deaths highlight our incompetence, failures and sins in workplace-accidents prevention,” said Herrera.

The group raised the matter in relation to the observance of this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work and International Commemoration Day for the Dead and Injured Workers on April 28 as well as the International Labor Day on May 1.

The TUCP called on the government to ratify Convention 187 of International Labor Organization (ILO) on Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health, and asked cooperation from the private sector to improve practices on safety prevention, support in the campaign against total use of asbestos, as well as universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support.   

At the same time, TUCP Party list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza said it is not enough for the government to inspect safety and health standards of employers applying for permits.

“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.”

TUCP affiliates, the Associated Labor Unions (ALU), and the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) also sought inclusion in the issue of health hazards in outside workplaces.

“Not only workers, but also their families and communities, are vulnerable and need to be protected from other emerging risks such as asbestos contamination, toxics leaching into the soil and released into the atmosphere, effects of climate change, ergonomic disorders, disasters and technologies which bring yet-unknown new dangers. This is something which cannot be addressed with a quick fix,” said Gerard Seno, ALU national vice president and ALU/BWI Ban Asbestos Campaign coordinator. –Estrella Torres / Reporter, Businessmirror