'Metro Manila construction sites unsafe'

MANILA, Philippines - Almost all construction sites in Metro Manila are not adopting occupational safety and health standards (OSHS) and considered hazardous workplaces, the labor department has learned.

Department of Labor and Employment-National Capital Region (DOLE-NCR) director Raymundo Agravante said 172 of the 174 construction projects inspected in the first half of the year have OSHS violations—lack of approved construction safety and health program, no accredited safety officers/practitioner and no organized safety and health committee, among them.

Agravante said many construction companies, however, immediately complied with the regulations upon orders of DOLE. “The good news is that out of the 172 construction sites, 53 sites immediately complied with OSH standards voluntarily,” he said.

He said DOLE-NCR launched an intensified inspection campaign against erring construction companies to promote an accident-free construction industry in the country.

“We are enforcing occupational safety and health standards regulations to reduce, if not eliminate, OSH hazards in all workplaces and ensure the safe and healthy working conditions for workers,” he said.

DOLE-NCR reported an increase in the number of construction firms that filed an application for the Construction Safety and Health Program (CSHP) before the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) from January to June this year.