Proposed law change will penalise employers without safety standards
A fire at a mall in Davao City in the southern Philippines has prompted calls for Congress to amend laws on occupational safety and health.
The 32-hour fire started 23 December at the New City Commercial Center Mall. Thirty-eight people, 37 of them call centre agents, were killed.
Senator Emmanuel Joel Villanueva, head of the Senate’s Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, said the Department of Labor and Employment has failed to implement the law that promotes workplace safety.
The Senate also has yet to act on Senate Bill 1317 – the Occupational Safety and Health bill – especially since the Lower House has approved its counterpart version in December 2016.
The bill was filed as a result of violations of OHS standards leading to workers’ deaths or injuries. It outlines duties and responsibilities of all stakeholders and includes a coordinative mechanism for inter-agency harmonization of functions.
"This bill reiterates that violations of OSH standards [show] a deliberate disrespect of the well-being of our workers and derogation of their right to safe and healthy workplaces. We will make sure that violations of OSH standards will not be tolerated with just a slap on the wrist," Villanueva said.
The OSH bill will compel employers to implement a set of standards to ensure safety in workplaces and will penalise non-compliance. The explanatory note of the two proposed laws noted that the Labor Code, only authorises work stoppages in cases of imminent danger in workplaces.
Under the proposed measure, an amount of PH₱100,000 will serve as an administrative penalty for the erring employer for every day of non-correction of violation while an amount ranging from PH₱250,000 to PH₱500,000 or imprisonment of six years and one day to 12 years will be meted out if a worker dies. The OSH compliance has been listed as a priority measure in the present Congress.
Related stories:
Firm fined $400K over safety failures
Firm fined $190K over workplace death
The 32-hour fire started 23 December at the New City Commercial Center Mall. Thirty-eight people, 37 of them call centre agents, were killed.
Senator Emmanuel Joel Villanueva, head of the Senate’s Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, said the Department of Labor and Employment has failed to implement the law that promotes workplace safety.
The Senate also has yet to act on Senate Bill 1317 – the Occupational Safety and Health bill – especially since the Lower House has approved its counterpart version in December 2016.
The bill was filed as a result of violations of OHS standards leading to workers’ deaths or injuries. It outlines duties and responsibilities of all stakeholders and includes a coordinative mechanism for inter-agency harmonization of functions.
"This bill reiterates that violations of OSH standards [show] a deliberate disrespect of the well-being of our workers and derogation of their right to safe and healthy workplaces. We will make sure that violations of OSH standards will not be tolerated with just a slap on the wrist," Villanueva said.
The OSH bill will compel employers to implement a set of standards to ensure safety in workplaces and will penalise non-compliance. The explanatory note of the two proposed laws noted that the Labor Code, only authorises work stoppages in cases of imminent danger in workplaces.
Under the proposed measure, an amount of PH₱100,000 will serve as an administrative penalty for the erring employer for every day of non-correction of violation while an amount ranging from PH₱250,000 to PH₱500,000 or imprisonment of six years and one day to 12 years will be meted out if a worker dies. The OSH compliance has been listed as a priority measure in the present Congress.
Related stories:
Firm fined $400K over safety failures
Firm fined $190K over workplace death
