(Eagle News) – A bicameral conference committee approved on Monday, May 21, a measure strengthening the compliance of employers with occupational safety and health standards.
Senator Joel Villanueva said Senate Bill No. 1317 or “An Act Strengthening Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS) and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof” seeks to amend the 41-year old Labor Code of the Philippines which, at present, the senator said, does not declare fines or penalties for violation of OSH standards.
The approval came after a series of workplace accidents, the most recent being the fall of a concrete beam in a flyover project in Imus.
According to Villanueva, who is also the chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development, the House contingent agreed during the bicameral meeting to adopt the Senate’s version of the measure that would “impose an administrative fine of P100,000 per day of non-correction of OSH standards violation,” counted from the date the employer or contractor is notified of the violation or the date the compliance order is duly served on the employer.
Under the proposed law, he said, “the amount of fine imposed shall depend on the frequency or gravity of the violation committed or the damage caused, provided, however, that the maximum amount shall be imposed only when the violation exposes the workers to a risk of death, serious injury or serious illness.”
Villanueva also said the bill guaranteed the payment of workers’ wages and income during work stoppage or suspension of operation due to imminent danger as a result of the employer’s violation or fault.
“This bill, once enacted into law, would finally give teeth to our 41-year Labor Code and would thus force establishments to comply to occupational safety and health standards,” he added.
The measure will be sent to President Rodrigo Duterte, who may sign it into law.