Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology

College of Trades and Technology

BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
Module 2: OSH Situation in the Global and Local Levels

Let us share with you a historical event which led to OSH improvements in
the early 19th century. During the industrial revolution of 1800 – 1900s, the
use of machines, equipment and chemicals were intensive as
manufacturing processes, agriculture and train/steam engine transport
were the driving force of the economy. However, numerous work-related
accidents and deaths occurred arising from hazards in these industries.
Statistics, at that time, showed that safety hazards, chemical exposures
and injuries from manufacturing work were very high. This led to the
development of guidelines and standards to protect workers from
work-related hazards and risks in the above-mentioned industries.

As work patterns change, trends on accidents and diseases may also

reflect how workers are affected. In the late 20th century and until the
present, we see that predominance of the service sector (wholesale and
retail trade, education, hotels and restaurants, banks, health-care etc.), and
we are now confronted with data that reveal work-related muscle and joint
injuries experienced by the service sector workers and the emergence of
the science of ergonomics which will be discussed at length in the
Occupational Health module.

Objectives: Working on this module should help you:

● articulate a heightened awareness of the OSH situation, both local
and international
● identify the problems, issues and challenges associated with OSH
conditions in the country

Global OSH figures The International Labour Organization (ILO) Safework

Introductory Report in 2008 showed that close to 50% of work-related
deaths occur in Asia. In developing countries, fatality rates are five to six
times higher than in industrialized nations and in developing countries
where, every year, around 170,000 agricultural workers and 320,000

Ricardo C. Atole
Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
people die from exposures to biological risks such as viral, bacterial, insect
or animal related risks.

The latest ILO figures reveal that,

“Every 15 seconds, 160 workers have a work-related accident. Every 15

seconds, a worker dies from a work-related accident or disease.

Everyday, 6,300 people die as a result of occupational accidents or

work-related diseases – more than 2.3 million deaths per year. Over 337
million accidents occur on the job annually; many of these resulting in
extended absences from work. The human cost of this daily adversity is
vast and the economic burden of poor occupational safety and health
practices is estimated at 4% of global Gross Domestic product each year.

The safety and health conditions at work are very different between
countries, economic sectors and social groups. Deaths and injuries take a
heavy toll in developing countries, where a large part of the population is
engaged in hazardous activities such as agriculture, fishing and mining.
Throughout the world, the poorest and least protected – often women,
children and migrants – are among the most affected.

Philippine Labor and OSH statistics

According to the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the National Statistics
Office (NSO), the Philippine labor force/ economically active population,
which refers to persons 15 years old and above who are employed or
underemployed, totals 38.905M in October 2010.

“Of the estimated 36.0 million employed persons in 2010, more than half
(51.8%)

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Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
were engaged in services and about one-third (33.2%) were in agriculture.
Most of
those who worked in the services sector were into wholesale and retail
trade, repair of
motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods (19.5% of
the total
employed).

Of the total employed persons, the laborers and unskilled workers

comprised the largest group (32.3%). This was followed by farmers,
forestry workers and fishermen (16.0%); officials of government and special
interest organizations, corporate executives, managers, managing
proprietors and supervisors (13.8%); and service workers, shop and market
sales workers (10.6%). The rest of the major occupation groups each
comprised less than 10 percent ranging from 0.4 percent to 7.7 percent.
The majority (54.4%) of the employed were wage and salary workers, most
of whom were in private establishments (40.4% of the total employed).
Thirty percent were selfemployed without any paid employee, four percent
were employer in own familyoperated business or farm while nearly 12
percent worked without pay in own familyoperated farm or business.

More than half (63.5%) of the total employed were full time workers or have
worked for at least 40 hours per week. On the average, employed persons
worked 41.7 hours a week in 2010.

The number of underemployed workers in 2010 was 6.8 million,

representing an annual underemployment rate of 18.7 percent.
Underemployed workers are persons who express the desire to have
additional hours of work in the present job, or to have an additional job, or
to have a new job with longer working hours. The lowest underemployment
rate was observed in Central Luzon (9.1%) while the highest was noted in
Bicol Region (36.8%).

Ricardo C. Atole
Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
About 2.9 million Filipinos were unemployed in 2010 representing an
unemployment rate of 7.3 percent for the year. The unemployed persons
who have attained high school accounted for 45.2 percent of all
unemployed. The proportion of unemployed males was greater than that of
their female counterparts (63.3% compared to 36.7%).” (2010 ANNUAL
LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS, released February 8, 2011,
http://www.census.gov.ph/data/press release/2011/pr1111tx.html)

According to the July 2011 Current Labor Statistics of the DOLE Bureau of
Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), there are 8M OFWs with 1.47M
deployed in 2010. Of the OFWs deployed in 2010, 1,123,676 are land
based and 347,150 are sea-based. After knowing these statistics, the
question that comes to mind is “how many Filipino workers are protected
from accidents and illnesses while they work?”

Taken in 2007-2008 and released in 2010, the latest Bureau of Labor and
Employment Statistics (BLES) Integrated Survey (BITS) on cases of
occupational injuries and diseases that affected private sector
establishments covered 6,460 sample non-agricultural establishments with
20 or more workers. It has expanded its coverage 65 industries including
building and repairing of ships and boats (manufacturing industry); bus line
operation (transport, storage and communications); accounting,
bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy, architectural,
engineering and related technical consultancy; call center activities,
medical transcription and related outsourcing activities (real estate, renting
and business activities); and animated films and cartoons production (other
community, social and personal service activities) industries.

The BITS results reveal that a total of 44,800 occupational accidents

occurred in 4,600 non-agricultural establishments employing 20 or more
workers in 2007, a figure lower by 14.7% than the 52,515 accidents that
affected 4, 824 establishments in 2003. Occupational injuries resulting from
workplace accidents declined by 20.7% from 58,720 in 2003 to 46,570 in
2007.
Ricardo C. Atole
Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health

Cases that required absence/s from work stood at 23,265 in 2003 and
20,386 in 2007 or a reduction of 12.4%. Almost all cases with workdays lost
in 2007 were temporary disabilities (20,109). This is 12.4% lower than the
caseload of 22,964 in 2003.

Fatalities decreased by 31.8% (from 170 in 2003 to 116 in 2007. However

those permanently incapacitated increased by 23.7 % (from 131 in 2003 to
162 in 2007).

Contributing factors to occupational accidents and injuries include

machines, equipment, hand tools, materials, buildings, structures and
chemical substances.

On the other hand, training on the proper handling and correct operation of
machines, use of personal protective equipment (PPE) precautions and
carefulness in work prevent accidents and promote safety in
establishments.

The largest caseload of injuries with workdays lost in 2007 was recorded in
manufacturing establishments at 61.0% (12,427). This industry also posted
the biggest share at 61.9% four years earlier. The rest of the industries had
lower shares ranging from 0.2% (financial intermediation) to 9.2% (hotels
and restaurants) in 2007 and from 0.3% (mining and quarrying) to 11.6%
(wholesale and retail trade) in 2003. (Table 1).

Relative to their specific industry totals, private education injury cases with
workdays lost had multiplied by as much as three times its 2003 level (from
132 in 2003 to 436 in 2007). Other noticeable percentage increases were
recorded in mining and quarrying at 58.3% (from 60 in 2003 to 95 in 2007)
and in hotels and restaurants at 57.1% (from 1,195 in 2003 to 1,877 in
2007). On the other hand, remarkable decreases were noted in other
community, social and personal service entities at 66.1% (from 546 in 2003
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Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
to 185 in 2007) and in financial intermediation activities at 52.0% (from 100
in 2003 to 48 in 2007).

Definition of Terms:

Occupational accident - an unexpected and unplanned occurrence,

including acts of violence arising out of or in connection with work which
results in one or more workers incurring a personal injury, disease or death.
It can occur outside the usual workplace/premises of the establishment
while the worker is on business on behalf of his/her employer, i.e., in
another establishment or while on travel, transport or in road traffic.

Occupational injury - an injury which results from a work-related event or

a single instantaneous exposure in the work environment (occupational
accident). Where more than one person is injured in a single accident, each
case of occupational injury should be counted separately. If one person is
injured in more than one occupational accident during the reference period,
each case of injury to that person should be counted separately. Recurrent
absences due to an injury resulting from a single occupational accident
should be treated as the continuation of the same case of occupational
injury not as a new case.

Temporary incapacity - case where an injured person was absent from

work for at least one day, excluding the day of the accident, and 1) was
able to perform again the normal duties of the job or position occupied at
the time of the occupational accident or 2) will be able to perform the same
job but his/her total absence from work is expected not to exceed a year
starting the day after the accident, or 3) did not return to the same job but
the reason for changing the job is not related to his/her inability to perform
the job at the time of the occupational accident.

Permanent incapacity - case where an injured person was absent from

work for at least one day, excluding the day of the accident, and 1) was
never able to perform again the normal duties of the job or position
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Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
occupied at the time of the occupational accident, or 2) will be able to
perform the same job but his/her total absence from work is expected to
exceed a year starting the day after the accident.

Fatal case - case where a person is fatally injured as a result of

occupational accident whether death occurs immediately after the accident
or within the same reference year as the accident.

Injuries incurring days away from work recorded a Frequency Rate (FR) of
2.79 in 2007. This was 1.28 percentage points lower than the FR of 4.07 in
2003. Expectedly, this was coherent to the 12.4% reduction in the number
of cases of occupational injuries to 20,386 in 2007 from 23,265 in 2003.
Definition of Terms:

Frequency Rate (FR) – refers to cases of occupational injuries with

workdays lost per 1,000,000 employee-hours of exposure.

Incidence Rate (IR) – refers to cases of occupational injuries with

workdays lost per 1,000 workers.

Severity Rate (SR) – refers to workdays lost of cases of occupational

injuries resulting to temporary incapacity per 1,000,000 employee-hours of
exposure.

Average Workdays Lost – refer to workdays lost for every case of

occupational injury resulting to temporary incapacity.

Cases of occupational diseases in non-agricultural establishments

employing 20 or more workers decreased by 14.8% from 55,413 in 2003 to
47,235 in 2007. Incidences of occupational diseases decreased in almost
all types of diseases in 2007 except in bronchial asthma (+29.9%),
occupational dermatitis (+18.6%) and essential hypertension (+7.8).
Work-related musculoskeletal diseases were most prevalent in
non-agricultural establishments employing 20 or more workers both in 2003
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Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
and 2007. This type of disease accounted for 37.2% (2003) and 28.1 %
(2007) of the totals. Other types which made up more than 10% of the total
diseases in 2007 were bronchial asthma (18.5%), infections (13.8%),
essential hypertension (13.0%) and occupational dermatitis (12.6%).

The present local data does not present a total picture of OSH situation in
the Philippines. As you can see, the BITS survey is limited only to the 6,460
companies covered out of the estimated 780,500 existing establishments in
the country. Many companies do not report accidents and injuries. Data
gathering has been problematic because of the following conditions:

● Under reporting of work-related accidents and illnesses. Rule 1050 of

the Philippine Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS)
requires all employers to report all work accidents or occupational
illnesses resulting to disabling conditions to the DOLE Regional
Office in their area. However, very few companies submit reports.
● Limited coverage of the OSH information and education and OSHS
implementation. Vulnerable groups such as the informal sector (which
amounts to 28M or 80% of the Filipino workforce) are often left out in
the OSH education, information and program implementation
because they are do not have the capacity to pay for trainings and
most of the time are not even aware that they can protect themselves
from accidents and illnesses. Many of them think that the diseases
and accidents they experience is part of the nature of their work and
cannot be prevented. On a positive note, OSHC has been doing a lot
of OSH awareness campaigns for informal workers.

● Inadequate number of trained OSH personnel. There has been an

upsurge of OSH awareness worldwide and companies both here and
abroad require companies to hire trained OSH personnel. This has
caused an exponential increase in the number of workers who have
undergone and are wanting to avail of OSH trainings but because
accidents continue to happen, more dedicated and trained personnel
are needed.
Ricardo C. Atole
Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
● Absence of strict penalties. There is no system of fines for violations
of the different provisions of the OSHS.
● Weak enforcement of OSH laws –problem is traceable also to the
absence of strict penalties on violations of OSH standards.
● Fragmented OSH administration. There is no central authority to
coordinate all OSH efforts.
● Public apathy on OSH concerns. Most people do not generally pay
attention to OSH concerns.
● Low priority on OSH concerns by both management and labor. The
former is more concerned about profit while the latter is with wages
and other monetary benefits.

Emerging issues in OSH

● Aside from the problems already identified, participants should also

be aware that there are emerging OSH issues – such as women
workers’ issues, OSH and child labor, OSH in the informal sector,
agriculture, in schools and lifestyle diseases such as AIDS and
diabetes, and many others.
● Women are often faced with multiple burdens. They have take on the
burden of the home they perform the role of a wife and a mother.
These may also affect her performance at the workplace and add to
the stresses that come with the job. The hazards that a women
worker is exposed to while at work to can affect her reproductive
health and for a pregnant worker, her unborn child.
● There are 250 million child laborers around the world of which 3.7
million are found in the Philippines. Of these, 2.2M are in hazardous
jobs. Employing children in these types of work greatly affects the
quality of their life and in serious cases, may even cause serious
disabilities or death. The OSHC researches on the footwear industry,
fishing, mining, and agriculture, helped in the formulation of policies,
in advocacy campaigns to take children out of hazardous work.
● The use of pesticides in farms is also another issue. Farmers or farm
workers who handle pesticides may be unaware of the hazards that
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Instructor I
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Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology
College of Trades and Technology
BOSH 001 - Basic Occupational Safety and Health
they are exposed to. Constant exposure of a worker, has enormous
adverse effects his or her health. Workers handling pesticides may
even bring home residues of the chemicals and, affecting their
families and the community.
● There is also little mechanism on OSH for the informal sector
considering that they represent more than half of the total workforce
and is the sector badly in need of OSH information since they have
the tendency to ignore such concerns just to get their daily incomes.
● In schools, students are also exposed to hazards such as chemicals
and electricity, while bullying and hazing (both psycho-social issues)
are becoming more common. Many school buildings are also risks
themselves.

Although the number of work-related accidents and illnesses has

decreased in the recent years here in the Philippines, cases of
occupational injuries and diseases continue to occur. We at the OSHC
subscribe to the principle that “one life lost is one too many.” Everyone
must therefore be involved in the effort to contain OSH concerns to
enhance one’s working life. After all, most of us work mainly for economic
purposes - “ang hanap-buhay ay para ikabuhay, hindi para ikamatay.”

Ricardo C. Atole
Instructor I
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