BOSH (Basic Occupational Safety and Health)

Course Overview

The Philippines is a country booming in most industries. Its citizens work hard at their
jobs and show a passion for the tasks assigned to them. And with the multitude of foreign
investment setting up their businesses in the country, the need for safe workers is a must.
Each company has a distinct production process, and these are accompanied by related
hazards, seen in procedures materials and machines. Workers still suffer from serious
injuries and even death whilst the organizations themselves are inflicted with court fines
and penalties, compensations, claims, reduced productivity, lower staff morale, and
damaged reputation. All these occupational accidents and incidents can be avoided by
having trusted occupational safety and health course such as Basic Occupational
Safety and Health (BOSH) course.

Providing Health and Safety training, as prescribed by the DOLE, elevates one’s
knowledge on proper and safe work practice, and allows them to keep up with the
demands of industry. It also enables employers to comply with requirements of the
Bureau of Working Conditions regarding their employees and their workplace.

1. DOLE mandatory 40-hours or five(5) days of BOSH training course required for
safety officers working in the manufacturing and plant industries prescribed under
Rule 1030 of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS). It aims to
equip participants with the basic knowledge and skills on identifying safety, health,
and environmental hazards; determining appropriate control measures; and
developing and implementing OSH policies and programs.

2. DOLE mandatory 40-hours or five(5) days of Construction Occupational Safety

and Health (COSH) training course required for safety officers working in the
construction industry. It aims to equip participants with the basic knowledge and
skills in performing safety audits, assessments and analysis of hazards and risks
in the construction industry; determining appropriate control measures; and
developing and implementing OSH policies and programs.

Now, integrating safety and health concerns into the curricula are done in different ways
such as offering a stand-alone course in Basic Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH)
since the CHED Technical Committees approved in the integration of BOSH in different
engineering programs.
Module 1: Introductory Concepts: Promoting Safety and Health
as an Engineer’s Professional and Ethical Responsibility
Health and safety is one of the oldest engineering concerns. Sanitation engineering and
public health drastically improved the quality of life amongst ancient peoples. Hazard
identification, evaluation and control are the hallmarks of accident prevention and
safety promotion. And the value of the training extends beyond the workplace to its
application in the home. A persons’ health, therefore becomes another investment to
better productivity at work.

The promotion of safety and health as embodied in the engineers code of ethics is the
foremost professional responsibility of the engineers. Thus, instilling such
responsibility in training of future engineers will definitely create OSH champions among
young engineers.

Safety and Risk

According to William W Lowrance, the famous consultant of those times, Safety was
defined as “A thing is safe if its risks are judged to be acceptable.”

Safety is frequently expressed in terms of degree and comparisons. The words like fairly-
safe and relatively-safe are used where an individual is judged on the basis of settled
values and it is further decided that the risks of anything are more or less acceptable in
comparison with the risks of the other thing.
Any work which might lead to harm us and is not considered safe, can be understood as
a risk. According to a popular definition, “A risk is the potential that something
unwanted and harmful may occur.” According to William D Rowe, potential for the
realization of unwanted consequences from impending events.

Professional engineers working in the public sector have a unique role in serving as
guardians of various health, safety, and welfare issues. In addition to their basic
professional role in holding paramount the public health, safety, and welfare, engineers
in the public sector are empowered to make recommendations and approve only those
drawings, plans, and specifications that are consistent with engineering standards. In
many ways, engineers in the public sector are a key line of defense in protecting the
public.

Overview of OSH
Introduction

The field of occupational safety and health (OSH) has become a topic of increasing
importance over the last 30 years. The establishment of the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) in 1970 reflected the recognition that safety in the
workplace is a basic expectation for all employees. Originally addressing concerns in
industry and hazards associated with mechanical injury, the field of occupational health
and safety has expanded to almost every workplace environment.

Employers have an obligation to ensure the safety and health of their employees by
preventing their exposure to occupational risks, and thus avoiding the occurrence of
occupational accidents and diseases, which are very expensive and have severe direct
and indirect effects on the life of workers. To achieve such goal employers have to
implement safety and health measures based on risk assessments and legislation.

What is Occupational Safety and Health?

 Occupational safety and health (OSH) is a discipline with a broad scope

involving three major fields – Occupational Safety, Occupational Health and
Industrial Hygiene.
 Occupational safety deals with understanding the causes of accidents at work
and ways to prevent unsafe act and unsafe conditions in any workplace. Safety at
work discusses concepts on good housekeeping, proper materials handling and
storage, machine safety, electrical safety, fire prevention and control, safety
inspection, and accident investigation.
Occupational health is a broad concept which explains how the different hazards
and risks at work may cause an illness and emphasizes that health programs are
essential in controlling work-related and/or occupational diseases.
Industrial hygiene discusses the identification, evaluation, and control of
physical, chemical, biological and ergonomic hazards.

 Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with

the safety, health and welfare of people at occupation.

The main aim of OSH:

1. the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and
social well-being of workers in all occupations;
2. the prevention of adverse health effects of the working conditions
3. the placing and maintenance of workers in an occupational environment adapted
to physical and mental needs; and
4. the adaptation of work to humans (and NOT the other way around).

Successful occupational health and safety practice requires the collaboration and
participation of both employers and workers in health and safety programs, and involves
the consideration of issues relating to occupational medicine, industrial hygiene,
toxicology, education, engineering safety, ergonomics, psychology, etc.

What are the OSH Standard?

 The OSHS (Occupational Safety and Health Standard) are the rules and
regulations governing work safety and health.

Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS)

(As Amended, 1989)

Under Rule 1033 of the Philippine Occupational Safety and Health Standards (as
amended) and DO 16 and series of 2001, to wit “The minimum qualifications, duties and
number of required safety and health officers shall be as follows:

1. All safety officers must complete the Bureau-prescribed training course prior to
their appointment as in their respective places of employment;
2. All full-time safety officers must meet the requirement of duly-accredited Safety
Practitioners or Safety Consultants by the Bureau; and
3. Not less than the following number of supervisors or technical personnel shall take
the required trainings and shall be appointed as a safety officer on a full-time or
 part-time basis, depending on the number of workers employed and the hazardous
or non-hazardous nature of the workplace.”

 The OSHC (Occupational Safety and Health Center) is a section under

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Basic OSH concepts

Some key concepts in OSH are:

1. Hazard –source, situation, or act with a potential for harm in terms of human injury
or ill health, or a combination of these, i.e. anything present in the workplace
that has the potential to cause an injury to workers, either a work accident or
an occupational disease.
2. Risk – combination of the likelihood of an occurrence of a hazardous event or
exposure and the severity of injury or ill health that can be caused by the event
or exposure.
3. Risk assessment – is the process of evaluating risks to workers’ safety and health
from workplace hazards. It is a systematic examination of all aspects of work
that considers:
1. what could cause injury or harm
2. whether the hazards could be eliminated and, if not,
3. what preventive or protective measures are, or should be, in place
to control the risks.
4. Safety – it is very difficult to define. Safety is the state of being "safe" i.e. free from
harm or risk, but in practice this state is never obtained. Therefore, safety must
be seen as a value judgment regarding the level of risk of being injured which
is considered to be acceptable.
5. Health – in relation to work, indicates not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity; it also includes the physical and mental elements affecting health
which are directly related to safety and hygiene at work.
6. Occupational disease – disease contracted as a result of an exposure over a
period of time to risk factors (chemical, physical or biological agents) arising
from work activity, that is any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or
occupational activity. It is typically identified when it is shown that it is more
prevalent in a given body of workers than in the general population, or in other
worker populations. Examples include respiratory diseases (e.g. asbestosis or
occupational asthma), skin diseases, musculoskeletal disorders (e.g. carpal
tunnel syndrome) and occupational cancer.
7. Work accident – is a discrete occurrence in the course of work (even if the
accident happens off the company’s premises, or if it is caused by third parties),
which leads to physical or mental harm.
8. Prevention – all the steps or measures taken or planned at all stages of work in
the undertaking to prevent or reduce occupational risks.
Regarding scope, the concepts of OSH are applicable to any type of work, from
construction, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, fishing, to shop, office or healthcare; and
also, to subcontracted work. Furthermore, for OSH purposes, besides the period of work
activity, commuting to and from place of work is also considered as part of a working day.
Therefore, safe commuting is also a concern in OSH.
BOSH Framework