JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ

WE, the participants of this First National Conference on Women Workers' Health and Safety, held at the Occupational Safety and Health Center, Diliman, Quezon City on October 14-16, representing the government, employers, labor, non-governmental organizations, the academe, and professional societies (from the Philippines and the U.S.), ILO and ADB recognize the importance of women workers in the development of our nation, hereby commit ourselves to the uplifting of the workplace conditions of our women workers, particularly in the area of Health, Safety and Environment by way of the following:

        Under the Leadership of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) including the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC):

1. In the on-going review of the Philippine Labor Code, give special attention to the needs and requirements of women workers, including those in the informal sector (including agricultural workers) and Migrant Workers.
2. Strengthen and adapt the Occupational Safety and Health standards appropriate to women and the changing nature of work.
3. Ensure effective enforcement of laws and policies on Occupational Safety and Health and sensitize policy makers, employers and unions for the special needs of women workers.
4. Provide special protection to the girl-child worker and young women workers in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and advocate the ratification of ILO Convention 182 on Worst Forms of Child Labor as well as ILO Convention 156, which focuses on workers with family responsibilities.
5. Advocate that Occupational Safety and Health of women is a regular item in the agenda of sessions in international congresses, particularly the Regional and World Congresses.
6. Continuously undertake studies on women’s health and safety and integrate the OSH of women in the educational curricula of all levels of the education and training system.
7. Develop, implement and sustain programs, which shall uphold the OSH conditions of women and carry out training, information and education programs that will support initiatives and policies beneficial to women workers.
8. Continue to advocate and support all other sectors of civil society to achieve better policies and pro-active legislation and programs on OSH for women.
9. Ensure the collection of data and statistics on Occupational Safety and Health for women to serve as basis for effective formulation and implementation of legislation, policies and programs and their monitoring as well as periodic evaluation.
10. Develop a comprehensive and forward-looking ACTION AGENDA FOR WOMEN WORKERS ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH FOR THE NEW MILLENIUM.

        APPROVED unanimously at the Occupational Safety and Health Center on 16 October 1999.
 

DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 4

 

Pursuant to Section 2 of Republic Act No. 679, as further amended by Presidential Decree No. 148, commonly known as the Woman and Child Labor Law, the following occupations are hereby declared hazardous to young workers, without prejudice to other occupations that may subsequently be declared as such:

 

 

 

A. Farming, Fishing, Hunting, Logging, and Related Occupations

• fishermen (deep sea and offshore)
• divers of (sponge, pearl and shell)
• logging (as cutter, sawyer, stripper, cable installer, feller)
• charcoal burner (big scale)

 

B. Mining, Quarrying and Related Occupations

• operators of (drilling and blasting machines, stone crushing equipment, conveyor, compressor, steam boiler, air receiver, gas cylinder, acetylene generator
• firing (with fuse, electricity)
• stone splitter
• underground workers
 

C. Transport, Communication and Navigational Occupations

• firemen
• drivers or operators of bulldozer, crane, pile driving equipment, trailer, road roller, tractor lifting appliances, scaffold winch, hoist, excavator, loading machine, trucks, buses, jeepneys and taxis
• tilers and greasers of heavy machineries
• traffic controller and dispatchers
 

D. Craftsman, Production, Process and Related Occupations

• spinners and winders (textile)
• fiber and plastic preparers
• bleacher, dyer and finisher of textiles using chemicals
• tool maker, machinist, plumber, welder, flame cutter and plater
• installer and repairer of telephone and telegraph
• electrical and electronic fitter
• linemen and cable jointer
• sawyer and woodworking machine setter and operator
• furnace and oven workers in brick making
• furnace man and kilnman in the manufacture of glass and ceramics
• brewer and wine maker
• distiller of alcoholic beverages
• tanner
• blacksmith, hammersmiths, forgeman
• slaughtering and killing large cattle (carabao, cow, horses)
• extraction of lard and oil
 

E. Service, Sports and Related Work

• fire-fighters and guards
• ship sterwards
• airline hostesses
• bartenders
• bus conductors and conductresses
• masseurs and masseuses
• taxi-dancers
• entertainers (stripteasers, burlesque, dancers, bomba)
• female bath house attendants
• female escorts for men
• janitors in bawdy houses
• lifeguards in swimming pools and resorts
• jockeys and horse trainers
• judo-karate instructor
• embalmers and undertakers
• dealers, croupiers, bookies and bet takers
• lifting, carrying, handling and moving heavy loads
 

F. Professional, Technical and Related Works

• personal service of female in bars, cocktail lounges, motels, hotels, massage clinics, and other drinking places

 

G. All occupational in the Processing and Preparation of Drugs and Chemical

    Products Involving Exposure to Dangerous  Chemicals

 

H. All Occupations in the Manufacturing, Handling, and Transporting of

     Explosives, Toxic, Corrosives, Poisonous and Noxious Components

     and Flammable Liquids in Bulk

 

I.  All Activities in any Work-room, Building, Premises, or any place where

    Radium is Stored, Kept or Processed or Used in the Manufacture of

    Self-Luminous Compounds or other Radioactive Substances.

 

 

    This Department Order shall take effect immediately.

 

    Approved: June 8, 1973

 

 

                                                                  (SGD) AMADO G. INCIONG

                                                                           Acting Secretary

SUBJECT :  CREATION OF TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP ON

                   CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH

 

In the interest of the service and in accordance with the recommendation made during the National Consultation on OSH in the Construction Industry held last February 5-6, 1998 at the OSHC, a TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP on Construction Safety and Health is hereby created for the purpose of formulating a Department Order for issuance by this office as an effective mechanism to strengthen the administration, enforcement and monitoring of all OSH laws, policies, standards, rules and regulations on construction industry.

 

The Technical Working Group shall be composed of representatives from the following agencies:

• Department of Labor and Employment (BWC, BLR, OSHC, ECC, TESDA)
• Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (PCAB, CMDF, PDCB)
• Philippine Constructors Association (PCA)
• Association of Carrier and Equipment Lessors (ACEL)
• Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)
• Labor Advisory and Consultative Council (LACC)
• International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW-Philippine Affiliates Council)
• Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
• Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)

 The Technical Working Group shall be assisted by a Secretariat composed of personnel from BWC, BLR, OSHC and PCA. The Technical Working Group is hereby authorized to create from among its members a small drafting committee which shall hold writeshop sessions and consultation meetings to aid the Group in the achievement of its objective.

 

In this regard, expenses for the conduct of meetings shall be chargeable against the funds of the agency/office which sponsors or hosts the meeting.

 

 

 

CRESENCIANO B. TRAJANO

Secretary

 

The establishment of a chemical safety information network in the Philippines is therefore necessary to provide, disseminate accurate, relevant and timely information on chemical safety.

 

The network will strengthen coordination and collaboration among government agencies, employers' organizations, workers' organizations, academia and non-governmental organizations for the better management of the use of chemicals and communication of risks due to chemicals through mechanisms such as information dissemination.

 

 The goal of the network is to foster ecological balance and achieve a better quality of life through proper knowledge, attitudes and practices on chemical safety.