Occupational safety and health eyed under tertiary curriculum

There is a need to integrate occupational safety and health into the tertiary curriculum to maximize educational awareness among students who will one day become part of the country’s workforce.

Occupational Safety and Health Center executive director Estrella Gust said safety and health promotion in the workplace may be part of the present educational curriculum but emphasis must be strengthened in this area to make OSH a habit and a personal value.

Gust cited the courses in engineering, nursing and other medical courses, among others, where occupational safety and health must be incorporated.

Gust recently visited Cebu to meet with some representatives of multinational companies at the Mactan Economic Processing Zone to promote their programs on OSH and invite stakeholders to participate in the 1st OSH Summit in the Visayas on October 11 and 12 in Cebu.

In a 2003 survey conducted by the Bureau of Local Employment and Statistics of the Department of Labor and Employment, around 58,000 workers incurred injuries in the non-farming sector. In the same survey, work-related injuries that were recorded in the farming sector were less than 10,000.

The survey also recorded over 80 fatalities while about 20,000 of the injured workers filed for sick leave which resulted to losses in the company’s productivity output, Gust said.

Gust, however, said the figure is just the tip of the iceberg as establishments do not report work-related accidents and injuries to the DOLE. The OSHC is an attached agency of the DOLE.

“We are encouraging establishments to report work-related accidents, injuries and illnesses,” so that safety and health measures will be addressed, according to Gust.

Gust attributed the failure of companies to report work-related accidents and injuries to the fear of companies of corresponding penalties. “We are not an enforcement agency but rather, our approach is developmental.”

Gust said there is a direct relationship between occupational safety and health in the productivity output level of workers. She identified potential hazards in the workplace, namely physical (dust, noise, heat), chemical, psychosocial (harassment, drugs), ergonomic and biological.

OSHC training program and public information division chief Rosanna Tubelonia said most companies at MEPZ have already put in place safety measures but this still needs improvement.

Gust added that they are expecting the summit to draw about 400 to 500 participants. — Gregg M. Rubio/LPM