Labor groups zooming in on asbestos

Manila, Philippines – Pushing for the passage of a law banning asbestos and the development of a national program for the elimination of asbestos related diseases (NPEAD) would intensify in the coming days as labor groups met in a forum Monday, 4 October 2010, held by the Associated Labor Unions (ALU), the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

Asbestos ban bills

The call to pass the bill banning asbestos at the Senate took center stage with the setting up of an email campaign urging the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce to hold meetings and consultations. Union members and supporters of the ban can send emails to Senator Manny Villar as the Committee Chair at http://tinyurl.com/ban-asbestos in the TUCP website. A parallel email campaign at the House Committee on Ecology would help advance the legislative process.

Meetings with the Committee Chairs – Senator Manny Villar and Representative Dan Fernandez at the Senate and the House, respectively – were being arranged to hand over the trade union position on the bills and get responses from the legislators on the issue.

The urgency of NPEAD

The NPEAD can help prevent hazardous work involving asbestos. The removal of asbestos at the Manila Thermal Power Plant (MTPP) showed some flaws in the inspection and monitoring of asbestos removal and waste disposal. The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the environment department did not address key issues raised in the MTPP case – escape of asbestos fibers in the air through wind-blown enclosure, non-wetting of asbestos before removal, ripped waste bags.

In some confirmed cases, workers do not know that asbestos is hazardous. Asbestos products are replaced every year and workers remove and dispose asbestos wastes as ordinary wastes without special protective equipment. Accredited asbestos service providers are not engaged to do the hazardous work of handling asbestos!

Agencies and stakeholders will have clear responsibilities on enforcement and monitoring of safety standards. Although the functions of concerned agencies were discussed in previous consultations as shared by the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), further discussions and developing the NPEAD can take place under the occupational health category of the Inter-Agency Committee on Environmental Health (IACEH) as presented by the Department of Health, who chairs the IACEH.

Priorities in the NPEAD

The NPEAD would protect workers, their families and the public through, among other things:

* Effective system of inspection and enforcement of standards and safety measures;
* Safe demolition of buildings with asbestos;
* Eventual phase out of the use of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials;
* A central registry and medical surveillance of exposed workers for early detection and diagnosis; and
* Establishing a fund for compensation of victims of asbestos-related diseases.

The 18 participants (7 women) from 10 trade unions, including two seafarers’ unions, were dismayed at slow government action on NPEAD. They considered intensified public awareness on the hazards of asbestos and effective registration and monitoring of industries engaged in asbestos as among the priorities in the NPEAD.