DOLE supports call against asbestos use in workplace

MANILA, June 16 (PIA)–The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday issued a call strongly supporting the bid against asbestos use as it pushes for its inclusion in the list of chemicals identified as hazardous to both health and environment.

DOLE acting secretary Danilo P. Cruz said in a press release that the call against the use of asbestos is in line with the country’s position in the upcoming 5th Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Philippines is one of the signatories to the Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty designed to protect developing nations from toxic trade and hazardous chemical use.

The inclusion of asbestos in the ‘watch list’ of hazardous chemicals will be discussed during Convention.

“Given such legal embargo at a global level, we could avert the proliferation of asbestos-related diseases in all workplaces,” Cruz said.

The DOLE, through its Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Science and Technology (DOST), joined forces to form the National Program for the Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases (NPEAD), an inter-agency government body which implements strategies for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases in the country.

To help develop the NPEAD, Cruz said the OSHC has initiated consultations with concerned agencies for the building up of the profile of asbestos use in the country, adding that the OSHC is currently gathering relevant data on asbestos use.

The term “asbestos” describes a group of naturally occurring fibrous serpentine minerals of three main types – chrysotile (white), amosite (brown), and crucidolite (blue), which have been used and continues to be used in building materials and consumer goods.

The international scientific community and organizations including the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Labor Office (ILO) classified all forms of asbestos as potent carcinogen – a deliberate health hazard.

With over 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of highly hazardous asbestos and asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) imported every year, thousands of Filipino workers and their families are exposed to the perils of asbestos.

Embedded in consumer and industrial goods such as fiber cement boards, packaging and construction mastics and materials, gaskets, ceiling/floor tiles and pipes, friction and mechanical parts, such as brakes and clutch linings in motor vehicles, the silent killer dust does exist in almost all public structures.

The World Health Organization estimates 125 million workers worldwide are exposed to asbestos in their workplaces. This translates to an appalling 107,000 workers dying each year to asbestos-related diseases. (DOLE/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)