DOLE sends team to probe Eton’s construction site hazards

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) sent on Thursday an inspector to the Eton construction site in Makati City to investigate the company’s compliance with occupational safety standards in the building.

“I have immediately alerted DOLE-National Capital Region director Raymundo Agravante to send our people at the DOLE Makati field office to the site of the accident to determine the causes that led to the deaths of the victims and to extend necessary assistance to the victims’ families to facilitate the provision of entitlements due their kin,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said.

Baldoz said that Agravante promptly mobilized the DOLE’s quick reaction team (QRT) in Makati led by Engineer Dante Aguilan, who went to the construction site to conduct a thorough investigation of the fatal accident.

“Engineer Aguilan will determine the nature of the accident, particularly hazards surrounding it that led to the victims’ death. He is expected to submit a comprehensive report so that the DOLE-NCR office can prescribe corrective safety measures to ensure that similar incidents will not recur not only at the site of the accident but also in other construction projects,” Baldoz said.

Baldoz said that if investigation showed the presence of imminent danger, the DOLE-NCR office would issue a stoppage order suspending the construction. Citing the occupational safety and health standards, she said that the order would remain in effect until the fixing of the problem.

The DOLE chief has instructed the regional office and the Employees Compensation Commission to assist the victims’ families in the processing of death benefits due their kin. The Occupational Health and Safety Center, another DOLE agency, will also be looking into the incident, according to Baldoz.

The Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development, a nongovernment organization, said its research showed that in 2009, 26 workers in the construction sector died of work-related causes while another 116 were injured.

The research also showed that the collapse of scaffolding has been a common cause in many construction accident deaths.

“Construction sector has been classified under Rule 1013 b of the DOLE Occupational Health and Safety Standards as a hazardous sector to work in… (W)orkers are always faced with great risks to their well-being, and thus, vigilance in upholding safety of the workforce must be the priority and is the principal responsibility of the employer,” explained IOHSAD executive director Noel Colina.

The militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno called on the President Benigno Aquino to investigate the accident, saying the deaths “highlight the poor working conditions and employment arrangements in the country’s construction sector.”

“Construction workers in the country, who are exposed to numerous job-related hazards, are made more vulnerable to accidents and death by the lack of safety equipment resulting from capitalists’ penny-pinching and greed for profits. They are also subjected to the ugliest contractual work arrangements,” Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general, said in a statement.

He said the faults of the Philippine government agencies regarding the health and safety of construction workers should also be looked into.

“Promoting a construction boom in high-rise commercial and residential buildings while keeping workers vulnerable to accidents and death and in contractual work arrangements is nothing but criminal,” Soluta added.

Colina also joined calls for a thorough investigation of the incident.

“Authorities should investigate the contractor and the owners of Eton for their individual responsibilities or the remiss thereof of providing safety for their workforce,” he said.

He also criticized the DOLE Order No. 57-04 that allows self-assessment for workplaces with more than 200 workers.

“It is high-time that the DOLE revoke this order which allows companies to do self-assessment of their compliance to working standards. This allow erring companies and contractor to cut corners in safety standards and save on costs, placing workers lives at risk in exchange for more profit,” he said. –Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer