Labor and Employment Sec. Silvestre Bello III. Senate PRIB file photo / Henzberg Austria
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has waived its occupational health and safety training fee for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and companies in distress amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The mandatory occupational health and safety training in workplaces will be offered to workers and enterprises for free starting this year,” DOLE said in a statement Sunday.
The new policy is in line with the directive of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to “enhance workplace health and safety” as well as to “ease the burden” of MSMEs in light of the pandemic.
“We are waiving the training fees being charged to micro and small businesses, and those companies in distress,” Bello said.
“The workers in those enterprises have to be assured of their safety and health while at the workplace. This is a big factor to their productivity,” he added.
In issuing the directive to the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), Bello emphasized the need to ensure the health and safety of the workers and employees to boost productivity as the economy reopens gradually.
“This is also a form of assistance to our MSMEs being hardest hit by the restrictions due to the pandemic” the labor chief said.
The OSH law or Republic Act 11058 makes it mandatory to designate and train safety officers in all business establishments, the number of which corresponds to the number of employees in enterprises.
A fee of P5,500 per trainee is fixed by OSHC for the safety training.
DOLE noted that in March 2019, it required establishments to follow OSH-related guidelines after the issuance of the Implementing Rules and regulations of the OSH law released in January of the same year.
Under the guidelines, “[p]roviding safety seminars and training to workers is an empowering way of building and sustaining a preventative occupational safety and health culture which results in enhanced productivity at workplaces.”
All establishments “are encouraged to immediately conduct mandatory Workers’ OSH seminars for all workers/employees at no cost to the workers and attendance at such seminars shall be considered compensable working time.”
The OSH law, according to DOLE, states that it is the duty of employers, contractors, and subcontractors to inform their workers about the hazards and risks involved in the occupation entered in and provide appropriate job instruction and orientation regarding OSH.
The OSH law also mandates all workers to attend an eight-hour OSH seminar which should include a joint employer-employee orientation on safety and health standards.
DOLE said it is the responsibility of establishments to determine their risk classification based on the Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment and Control (HIRAC).
Levels of classification are low-risk, medium risk, or high risk, the agency noted.
The results of the HIRAC and the number of workers shall be bases for determining the required minimum number of safety officers, occupational health personnel, medical services and facilities.