Series of 2003
February 7, 2003

 

In response to the growing problem of alcohol and drug abuse, and in line with the provisions of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been designated to provide a workplace-based program for the prevention and control of alcohol and drug abuse in the labor force.To implement the State policy promoting drug-free workplaces thru a tripartite approach, the Secretary of the DOLE shall issue a Department Order creating a Task Force consisting of government, labor and employers. This Task Force will formulate policies and strategies for the purpose of developing a National Action Agenda on drug abuse prevention in the workplace. Pursuant to the declared policy of the State, the DOLE Secretary shall require all private companies to adopt and implement a drug abuse prevention program in the workplace.

The Task Force led by the Department of Labor and Employment shall meet regularly in order to monitor the implementation of the relevant articles in the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 according to the guidelines defined in the IRR of Section 48 of the Law. It shall formulate the tripartite response to the law and provide strategies, directions and networking to implement a National Drug Abuse Prevention Program in the workplace to be adopted by private companies with 10 or more employees.

In this regard, DOLE Administrative Order No. 89 series of 1998 (Creating an Inter-Agency Committee on the Prevention of Drug – Abuse in the Workplace), is amended to include the following government and private offices:

Civil Service Commission (CSC)
Department of Health (DOH)
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB)
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA)
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)
Labor Solidarity Movement
Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP)
Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP)

Non-Government Organizations:
Family Welfare Center (FWC)
Occupational Health Nurses of the Philippines (OHNAP)
Philippine College of Occupational Medicine (PCOM)
Safety Organization of the Philippines (SOPI)

Other DOLE Agencies:
Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC)
DOLE – Regional Offices
Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA)
Bureau of Local Employment (BLE)

The above agencies shall be added to the IAC members included under A.O. 89 namely:

Human Resource Development Service (HRDS)
Information and Publication Service (IPS)
Legal Service (LS)
Bureau of Labor Relations (BRL)
Bureau of Rural Workers (BRW)
Bureau of Women and Young Workers (BWYW)
DOLE – National Capital Region (DOLE-NCR)
Employee’s Compensation Commission (ECC)
National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP)
Maritime Training Council (MTC)
Institute of Labor Studies (ILS)
Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC)
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)

The members of the Task Force shall be composed of permanent representatives with senior technical rank or designated alternates.

The Task Force shall be chaired by the Undersecretary for Worker’s Protection and Welfare. Vice-Chair shall be Assistant Secretary for Internal Affairs. The OSHC shall serve as head of the Technical Working Group (TWG). The names of the permanent representatives/alternates should be submitted to the OSHC soonest.

This Order takes effect immediately.

For strict compliance.

HON. PATRICIA A. STO. TOMAS (sgd.)
Secretary

Annex 1

Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Manila

DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 37-03
Series of 2003
February 7, 2003

In response to the growing problem of alcohol and drug abuse, and in line with the provisions of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been designated to provide a workplace-based program for the prevention and control of alcohol and drug abuse in the labor force.

To implement the State policy promoting drug-free workplaces thru a tripartite approach, the Secretary of the DOLE shall issue a Department Order creating a Task Force consisting of government, labor and employers. This Task Force will formulate policies and strategies for the purpose of developing a National Action Agenda on drug abuse prevention in the workplace. Pursuant to the declared policy of the State, the DOLE Secretary shall require all private companies to adopt and implement a drug abuse prevention program in the workplace.

The Task Force led by the Department of Labor and Employment shall meet regularly in order to monitor the implementation of the relevant articles in the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 according to the guidelines defined in the IRR of Section 48 of the Law. It shall formulate the tripartite response to the law and provide strategies, directions and networking to implement a National Drug Abuse Prevention Program in the workplace to be adopted by private companies with 10 or more employees.

In this regard, DOLE Administrative Order No. 89 series of 1998 (Creating an Inter-Agency Committee on the Prevention of Drug - Abuse in the Workplace), is amended to include the following government and private offices:

Civil Service Commission (CSC)
Department of Health (DOH)
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB)
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA)
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)
Labor Solidarity Movement
Employers' Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP)
Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP)

Non-Government Organizations:

Family Welfare Center (FWC)
Occupational Health Nurses of the Philippines (OHNAP)
Philippine College of Occupational Medicine (PCOM)
Safety Organization of the Philippines (SOPI)

Other DOLE Agencies:

Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC)
DOLE - Regional Offices
Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA)
Bureau of Local Employment (BLE)

The above agencies shall be added to the IAC members included under A.O. 89 namely:

Human Resource Development Service (HRDS)
Information and Publication Service (IPS)
Legal Service (LS)
Bureau of Labor Relations (BRL)
Bureau of Rural Workers (BRW)
Bureau of Women and Young Workers (BWYW)
DOLE - National Capital Region (DOLE-NCR)
Employee's Compensation Commission (ECC)
National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP)
Maritime Training Council (MTC)
Institute of Labor Studies (ILS)
Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC)
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)

The members of the Task Force shall be composed of permanent representatives with senior technical rank or designated alternates.

The Task Force shall be chaired by the Undersecretary for Worker's Protection and Welfare. Vice-Chair shall be Assistant Secretary for Internal Affairs. The OSHC shall serve as head of the Technical Working Group (TWG). The names of the permanent representatives/alternates should be submitted to the OSHC soonest.

This Order takes effect immediately.

For strict compliance.

HON. PATRICIA A. STO. TOMAS (sgd.)
Secretary

Annex 2

Guidelines for the Implementation of
A Drug-Free Workplace Policies and Programs

Definition of Terms:

a. Administer - any act of introducing any dangerous drug into the body of any person, with or without his/her knowledge, by injection, inhalation, ingestion or other means, or of committing any act of indispensable assistance to a person in administering a dangerous drug to himself/herself unless administered by a duly licensed practitioner for purposes of medication;

b. Assessment Team - will be composed of the safety and health committee including occupational safety and health personnel, human resources managers, employers and workers' representatives trained to address all aspects of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

c. Confirmatory Test - an analytical test using a device, tool or equipment with a different chemical or physical principle that is more specific which will validate and confirm the result of the screening test. It refers to the second or further analytical procedure to more accurately determine the presence of dangerous drugs in a specimen;

d. Dangerous Drugs - include those listed in the Schedules annexed to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and in the Schedules annexed to the 1971 Single Convention on Psychotropic Substances as enumerated in the attached annex which is an integral part of this Act. (Annex A)

e. Employee - shall mean any person hired, permitted or suffered to work by an employer. The term employee includes permanent, regular, temporary, casual, part-time, and contractual workers.

f. Employer - includes any person or entity acting directly, or indirectly in the interest of the employer, in relation to an employee and shall include non-profit private institutions or organizations.

g. Instrument - any thing that is used or intended to be used, in any manner, in the commission of illegal drug trafficking or related offenses;

h. Interested Party - refers to the courts, law enforcement agencies or the employer, and workers' representatives.

i. Near Miss - an incident arising from or in the course of work which could have led to injuries or fatalities of the workers and/or considerable damage to the employer had it not been curtailed.

j. Prevention - is the promotion of drug-free lifestyle thru strategies such as advocacy, information dissemination, and capability building through training.

k. Private Sector Organizations - refer to privately owned companies, corporations, associations, foundations, and the like.

l. Random Drug Test - refers to unannounced schedule of testing with each employee having an equal chance of being selected for testing. The policy on the conduct of random drug test should be known to both employers and employees.

m. Screening Test - a rapid test performed to establish potential/presumptive positive result. It refers to the immunoassay test to eliminate a "negative" specimen, i.e. one without the presence of dangerous drugs, from further consideration and to identify the presumptively positive specimen that requires confirmatory test;

n. Sell/Sale - Any act of giving away any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical whether for money or any other consideration.

o. Treatment, Rehabilitation and Counseling - the dynamic process, including after-care and follow-up treatment, directed towards the physical, emotional/psychological, vocational, social and spiritual change/enhancement of a drug dependent to enable him/her to live without dangerous drugs, enjoy the fullest life compatible with his/her capabilities and potentials and render him/her able to become a law-abiding and productive member of the community;

p. Use - any act of injecting, intravenously or intramuscularly, of consuming, either by chewing, smoking, sniffing, eating, swallowing, drinking or otherwise introducing into the physiological system of the body, any of the dangerous drugs.

q. Work Accident - shall mean an unplanned or unexpected occurrence that may or may not result in personal injury, property damage, work stoppage or interference or any combination thereof of which arises out of and in the course of employment.

r. Workplace - means the office, premises or worksite, where the workers are habitually employed and shall include the office or place, where the workers who have no fixed or definite worksite regularly report for assignment in the course of their employment. It shall also include venues used by the employer for company functions.